DK
by Seven Alice
Summary: Mysterion swore to protect everyone. Even when his immortality was such a curse, he could use it to protect those he cared about. But, when the evil arises and it attempts to take from him the friend he cares about so deeply, will he able to help? To save his Butters from the sickness that's so deep inside him? Bunny, eventually Style and one sided Kyman.
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

A/N: Hi guys! This is my first long fic for the South Park Fandom, so I'll try to update as fast as possible. This is just a prologue of sorts, because I really like fantasy and focus in Kenny's immortality and identity as mysterion. Here we'll see some of his reasons to become a vigilante as we stir up the storm that's going to be the plot :)

The main pairing is Bunny, of course, but there will be more along the way, most of them slash/yaoi; other warnings include violence, blood, mild gore, maybe sexual content later on, use of Lovecraftian mythology (MISUSE of Lovecraftian mythology) and flashbacks, a lot of them. Hopefully next chapters will focus more in the main story rather than in the flashbacks.

And about the title... Is kind of an spoiler, but try to read it and find the hidden word ;)

PS: I am working on a cover image for this, so stay tuned!

Nothing else to say, please enjoy!

* * *

 _As a child, Kenny tried to keep his features mostly hidden for the sake of his friends. All of them understood he was poor and his life was shitty, yet they didn't need to see the bags under his eyes, or his bruised face, or his greasy hair, no, they were fine with seeing his eyes, at most. Anyways most his friends were able to tell the way he felt just by seeing his face. So many years led them to know Kenny more than he knew himself, and honestly, he was perfectly okay with that. Because right now, he didn't want anyone to really see every ounce of shame on his features, so he just pulled the hood tightly on his face and hoped Butters could understand. Butters always understood._

 _"I am so sorry Butters, I really am sorry about your eye"_

 _He stared down, pain and regret in his voice as he apologized for the umpteenth time. Butters smiled softly, like it wasn't a big deal at all. The gauze and bandages still covering his left eye after the ninja shuriken incident, today the Doctor announced it was time to finally remove the bandage. As relieved as Kenny was, he couldn't help but feel terrified as well. What if the scar was too big? What if they couldn't save his eye and he would need to wear an eyepatch or some fake glass eye? He couldn't live knowing that he did that to Butters._

 _"It's okay, I know you didn't mean to"_

 _That's what Butters always said. And it didn't made Kenny feel any better. No matter if he didn't mean to, he did it and for that he couldn't forgive himself._

 _"Mom and Dad are going to ground me if I pretend to be a ninja again, though"_

 _Kenny sighed; above his eye he worried way more about being grounded. He sometimes wondered if Butters' family was worst than his; sure enough he was poor and shitty but the boy is always grounded, his father is a closeted bisexual that's on the verge of leaving his mother and his grandma is an old ass bitch. So much for a family._

 _"I really wanted to play with you guys"_

 _His voice sounded so small, and Kenny couldn't help but smile a little at how sheepish the smaller blond was. The only thing he wanted was to fit and be accepted by the group, in the end._

 _"Next time you'll play with us, Leo"_

 _His good eye widened and Kenny could see how it wrinkled under the dim lights of the hospital._

 _"Really?"_

 _"Of course, Buttercup. But this time I'll protect you, so you don't have to worry about shurikens"_

Mysterion's cape rustled with the wind as he stood on a tall building, staring down at South park and trying to get some warm out of his superhero outfit. In times like this he wished he could have his damned parka, the thing was so bright and ugly as hell itself but it worked at keeping him warm, at least. Yet he could still keep himself warm by the way his body burned with adrenaline every time he fought bad guys in alleyways, but today was quite uneventful, though. That was nice at some extent, it meant people was safe but generally something always came up and caught his attention even when there was no crime.

"Mysterion"

There he is.

Like always, professor Chaos would always come and taunt him or ramble about some new evil plant of sorts he stole from TV cartoons- which one he chose this time? Rick & Morty? Big hero 6?

Nevertheless he wasn't a menace of sorts, and as funny as it was to kill time with him Kenny knew he had to focus in the real crime. He tried to talk things out with him, to convince him to quit or something but it was futile. At this rate the villain wannabe would end injuring himself, he had already injured himself quite a lot in every encounter, yet he always came back. Kenny started to really consider if he was the only one with powers out there.

"You're late today, Chaos. And here I though you were a professional"

Said the purple robbed vigilante with sarcasm, it was pretty dark but he could almost see the pout on Doctor Chaos' face.

"It's quite late, why don't you go home and we start over tomorrow?"

As much as he loved to tease Chaos and picture how his frown deepened, Kenny really wanted him to scram and go home. He could injure himself really bad one of these days, and of course it would be his fault because running around with a cape and a mask encouraged guys like him to dress up as super villains. Even when his only purpose in doing this was to protect people. Protect his friends, his sister, to protect innocent people like Chaos himself, because he was truly an innocent and naive fellow that pretended to be a villain.

"Enough with your sass, Mysterion!"  
Barked Chaos.  
"Can't you take me seriously for once?"

Mysterion hummed, pretending he was actually thinking about it.  
"I don't know. Can I?"

Chaos sighed, but lifted his gaze to meet Kenny's ocean blue eyes with his own sky blue ones. Kenny couldn't help but notice there was something weird about them, something that made Chaos' eyes seem mismatched, like one of them had something the other lacked, but he couldn't stop and watch long enough to figure what it was.

"I think you can, after everything I planned for you"  
Even in the darkness, Kenny could see the forced smirk Chaos had. He always had that smirk when he was about to talk about his newest plan, the blond guessed it must be because Chaos tried to force himself to believe that this plan was actually going to succeed.

"So, you want me to explain everything? Or you'd rather see it yourself when I finally rip you off my way?"

 _Snow was falling, like every night. The police patrol in front of the McCormick's house finally parted as both Stuart and Carol were finally released after their meth lab was found. By some miracle their small daughter was allowed to stay with them rather than with a foster family, even when a foster family had more money and means to take care of her, she has lived with her troubled parents during all her short life. It would somehow affect her greatly to be apart from them._

 _"Are you okay, sweety? Did they treat you well?"_

 _Carol crouched beside her daughter, putting a reassuring hand in her shoulder. Karen just blinked, and continued to look around. Like she was waiting for someone else to arrive._

 _"I am okay. My Guardian angel saved me"_

 _Stuart immediately scoffed, rolling his eyes at his daughter's naivety._

 _"Yeah, of course. Don't worry Karen, I also see angels when I am high on meth"_

 _He walked inside the house, uncaring of his wife and child and probably going to check his meth lab. This only made the small girl pout, the tiniest of tears in the corners of her eyes and her tiny hands balled into fists._

 _"It's true!" she yelled. "He's dressed in purple, and he saved you from the jail and he took me away from the family they put me with!"_

 _Karen cried out, her anger finally being released as the tears streamed down her cheeks, her body shaking slightly. She didn't know why she felt so much anger, maybe because her guardian angel was always there for her, even more than her family, yet no one believed. No one gave her the benefit of doubt, his father wasn't even a bit grateful that said angel freed him from jail and saved his daughter. Her mother wiped away some of her tears and the strands of lose hair that fell over her eyes, trying to be as gentle as she could with the child._

 _"Why won't you believe me?"_

 _The blonde glared at her mother; despite the tenderness she was sure Carol didn't believe her as well, why would she? She always sided with Stuart in everything, had she said she knew nothing about the meth lab, the police would have allowed her to stay with her daughter and son. Yet, no matter what, she always supported her husband. No matter if he was an abusive asshole ever since they met, she'll always side with him. It made Karen feel a bit jealous and think that maybe, just maybe things would be a little different if she could chose to live for her children. After a moment, the woman just smiled slightly. It wasn't a happy smile._

 _"The fact that we don't believe in your angel doesn't mean he isn't real, Karen"_

 _She rubbed her daughter's cheek, like it could somehow soothe her._

 _"It just means we can't understand, but that's how adults are"_

 _She stood and offered her hand for Karen to take, but the small girl didn't move or say a thing. Trying to process that her parents will most likely never take her seriously. No one is ever going to take her seriously._

 _"Let's go inside, sweetheart. Is freezing out here"_

 _Carol walked inside the house, motioning Karen to follow, but the girl didn't even flinch. Inside the house or out in the snow, it didn't really matter. It was freezing in both places and Karen just wasn't ready to hear her father shout bad words when he finds that the cops dismantled his meth lab. Yet, as soon her mother was out of sigh she felt something soft covering her shoulders and wrapping itself around her, she quickly turned around, to find the purple robbed angel gently covering her with his cape to shield her from the cold._

 _"You're here!"_  
 _A few tears escaped her eyes as she instantly jumped to hug her guardian angel, who received her with open arms._

 _"The fact that they don't believe in me doesn't mean I don't exist"_  
 _He repeated Carol's words softly, caressing the girl's dirty hair and pulling her close. He didn't care if the police found him or shot him, Mysterion just wanted to return Karen to her family, to see her smile again. Yet it seemed that his guardian angel was the only one that could make her smile. Well, he wasn't sure of that; maybe her brother could make her smile as well. But right now she needed Mysterion, she needed the superhero that saved her and her family._

 _"You saved them, but they still don't believe in you"_  
 _Said the girl between sobs, her face buried in the vigilante's chest._

 _"They'll end doing the same mistakes over and over again"_  
 _Of course they'll do, Mysterion was aware that Carol and Stuart were dumbasses and because of it their family will end divided once again, but there was nothing he could about them. No matter how many times they screwed things, he'll always come and help Karen. He didn't care about them, or about the police, he just cared about Karen._

 _"I know they will"_  
 _He wasn't about to lie to the girl. She already knew there was nothing Mysterion could do about her parents. When she was younger, Kenny could protect her from everything. Shield her from the world, but she wasn't a dumb child; she understood her parents' situation and as much as she tried to ignore it and be happy, there were some things one can't just ignore._

 _"But even when they keep making the same mistakes, you have to forgive them"_

 _Karen separated from him, and the vigilante wiped the droplets from her face with tenderness. She could get sick if she continued crying out in this cold weather._

 _"Why?"_  
 _There was genuine curiosity in that one question, and Mysterion smiled gently as he tied his purple cape around the girl to keep her warm. That piece of cloth was pretty cheap, but he wanted her to have it as her blanket. A blanket from her guardian angel that could protect her from the harsh world._

 _"Because if no one else is able to forgive them, they at least have you"_

 _Kenny knew that their parents wouldn't be forgiven next time the police catches them, he knew that Kevin was already sick of Stuart and would most likely never come back, Kenny himself couldn't bring himself to forgive his parents not for himself but for everything they have put Karen through, but he didn't want the girl to feel that way. Her heart was full of dreams, and love towards her family even when they didn't deserve it, Kenny wouldn't want her to suffer and keep that much hatred in her small heart. No, she deserved to be happy and grow without keeping any grudge. It was too late for Kenny, but his sister had always been a forgiving, understanding, dreaming little bird. He didn't want that to change, he didn't want anyone or anything to force her into changing._

 _She nodded slowly, and Mysterion patted her in the head and gestured the place she called home._

 _"Now go inside, a pretty girl shouldn't stay outside in the cold"_  
 _She smiled at that. But before he could turn around to leave, she spoke up._

 _"Next time are you going to be there? Are you going to help us again?"_

 _He turned around and looked at her over his shoulder._  
 _"I'm always here, little bird. I'm always beside you"_

 _With that said, he disappeared in the falling snow. Karen watched him go, but immediately ran inside his house. There was so much she wanted to tell her big brother, she was sure he'll believe her no matter what._

Mysterion couldn't help but feel bad about Chaos, during their fight he accidentally punched the slightly shorter boy a little harder than intended. Now that he finally gave up on his plan he just sat on the rim of the building, dangling his legs over the edge and rubbing the black eye the vigilante left him. Kenny was sure he didn't use enough force to leave it black; maybe Chaos just bruised easily, he reasoned, it would make sense since he always ended injured in a way or another.

"It's late, you should really go home and have that treated"

He pointed, and Chaos immediately stopped rubbing his eye. Like that could convince Mysterion that it wasn't bothering him at all. Kenny could see how his scowl deepened, but he wasn't backing this time. No matter what it took, he'll convince Chaos to go home.

"Shut up"  
Retorted flatly the Professor Chaos, but it only made the vigilante roll his eyes. Stubborn as always.

"You don't get to tell me what to do! Maybe everyone else in this town is willing to listen to you, but I don't! That's why I fight you, that's why-"

He stood over the edge, stumbling a bit as he moved from his sitting position. It made Kenny nervous; his clumsy movements could get him to fall from the building to his death. Kenny knew that pretty well; he has died a few times after falling from that same building.

"Chaos- be careful or you'll-"

The smaller one cut him out, still not realizing his situation.

"That's why I-"

Before he could finish, he stumbled and fell backwards from the building. Screaming all the way down, Mysterion tried to reach and grab him, but it was too late.

"CHAOS!"

He looked over the edge, and breathed a deep sigh of relief after he saw that luckily, Chaos fell into a garbage container. The trash bags took in his fall, so he must be okay.

...Or so Kenny hoped.

"Are you okay?"

There was a loud groan that echoed through the dark alley in which the trash container was, but he eventually lifted his hand to give a thumbs up. Mysterion wiped the sweat from his forehead, such a fright Chaos have him out there. Hopefully, he'll finally go home now, the vigilante wanted to do more for the small villain, but he was like a rabid cat trying to scratch him every time Kenny tried to help, and of course he would never tell Mysterion; his arch enemy, where he lived, so he just hoped the boy would sulk a few moments about the fall and then go home.

"Do you want me to take you home or something?"  
He yelled, still in the top of the building, and another groan came from Chaos. Kenny translated it as "Screw off, I don't need your help"

"Okay, but go home. This is not the safest place"

Mysterion turned to leave, even when he wanted to help in some other way, the night was still young and more criminals could pop there and there. He needed to move on.

 _Both Butters and Kenny dangled their feet as they held onto the lollipops the Doctor gave them for having been such good kids when he removed the bandages from Butters' eye. Kenny had to admit, the Doctor had to be a badass if he managed to save the smaller blond's eye by his own, a pink scar still ran down his eyebrow and it could be seen inside his eye as well, but he had no problems to see and that's what matters. He's still same old Butters, he didn't seemed to mind the scar at all as he happily licked his lollipop and squeezed Kenny's hand. The taller blond knew that his friend was still scared when the Doctor and nurses were about to remove the gauze, so he offered him his hand to hold. Since then, he hasn't let go and Kenny was glad he could be of help. At least, he could help this way._

 _It would never make up for what he did, though._

 _"It feels a little funny"_  
 _Said Butters, snapping Kenny out of his thoughts. He was touching lightly the rim of the scar, Kenny had to move his hand away to stop him from scratching it. Sticking the lollipop in his mouth, he used his own hand to touch the scar with the tips of his fingertips, trying to be as soft as possible with the sensitive skin._

 _"It tickles!"_  
 _Butters giggled a bit. Tracing his finger from the eyebrow to where it ended almost in the cheek, Kenny found out that it was really soft, as it was newly formed skin. Butters had to take extreme care of it, because it could bruise or break easily._

 _"Yeah, it feels funny"_  
 _He chimed, smiling along Butters. He didn't want to worry his friends with that, the Doctor will most likely tell Butters' parents how to take care of it during the incoming weeks. Besides, if he started worrying so early it would bring Butters down. He had to take off the hood of his parka and smile, smile and keep his small Buttercup happy no matter what. After everything he and the guys put him through, that's the only thing he could do._

"Ham... Burgers"

Groaned the small villain as he crawled out of the garbage container, Mysterion walked away a few hours ago and he still couldn't bring himself to get out of that container and go home. He didn't want to, his parents will most likely ground him after seeing his black eye. He started to rub it again, now that Mysterion was gone he could finally show how much it was bothering him. Mostly because it was the eye with the scar, but he was used to injure himself more often than not. That's why he was a super villain, no one else could take the burden of fighting Mysterion and punishing this society that deserves no mercy.

Stumbling forward, he tripped and fell, kissing the floor instantly. Luckily the helmet protected him a bit. As much as Butters wished to just stay there, looking at the ants, Mysterion was right about this area of town being really unsafe; so he pushed himself to his feet and took off the damaged helmet, he had to restore it later but now he just wanted to go home and sleep. Yet, as he started to walk away, a small voice stopped him on his tracks.

"You're finally awake"

Looking around, Butters noticed the small figure walking out of the shadows. The blond recognized the kid in black; he was part of the goth guys. He couldn't quite remember his name; though. Was it Firkle? Or Georgie?

"Took you long enough"

Suddenly, Henrietta was beside him. She was taller, staring down at him with her black rimmed eyes and long eyelashes, a cigarette between her fingers as she blew smoke directly on Butters' face, making him wince a bit.

"We though you died"

They were all there. Michael, Pete, they all seemed to blend in the shadows with their dark clothing, the only one that seemed to outstand a bit was Pete because of his red highlights. They practically surrounded him, and Butters could only rub his knuckles, feeling nervous. They already saw him on his Professor Chaos outfit, but it seemed like they simply didn't care. So he tried to act casual, like he simply took a nap in the garbage container at 1:00 am in the morning. Not weird at all.

"Mm, well... Hello, guys"  
They moved a little closer, a eerie sound as Michael dragged his cane over the concrete surface.

"I am sorry if I bothered you" he scratched the back of his neck with awkwardness.

"I'll be leaving now"

He hadn't moved an inch, when Firkle immediately grabbed his wrist. It wasn't a strong grip, but it wasn't gentle, either. It was meant to scare Butters enough to keep him in place, as the goth boy's eyes vore deep into his skull.

"Actually, we wanted to talk with you"  
Henrietta dangled her cigarette in front of Butters again, and soon enough Pete was beside him as well.

"Come with us, we have a more private place to talk"

Butters couldn't muster another word, he tried to keep himself under control but he was scared. These guys were dangerous, he heard in school about the things they did just for fun, but they were generally against the vampires or overly optimistic people, so if he stayed quiet and listened to what they had to say, things would be alright.

"Dont worry, we'll take care of that as well"  
Said Firkle, pointing at his black eye. "Follow me"

Removing his hand from his wrist, the small boy took Butters' hand into his and started to lead him. His black eyes half closed and the tiniest, mischievous smile on his black lips. Like he was amused of something, Butters couldn't point out what as he was dragged by the boy, the rest of the goths following closely as they headed towards their hideout, where they planned to have a long chat with Leo.


	2. Chapter 2: Eye for eye

_"It... Hurts"_

 _Chaos was crouching, one hand clutching at his eye and the other steadying him in the floor. Kenny tried to move closer, to help him with something- anything, but he was sure the boy wouldn't allow him to. He was stubborn as hell, even when he is enduring so much pain he's fucking stubborn, and even when Kenny wanted to yell at him to stop being so fucking childish, he knew the boy was already pretty fragile. He didn't want to scare him anymore._

 _"It hurts, McCormick"_

 _Kenny was about to crouch down and hold him, but he froze when Chaos said his last name. How did he know? Oh, fuck! He wasn't wearing his Mysterion's robes, not even his cape! He was completely dressed as Kenny! But right know, he couldn't bring himself to care. He just wanted to help Chaos, to make up for the way he treated the villain wannabe, to make up for not being able to-_

"McCormick!"

Kenny woke up with a gasp, almost stumbling and falling from his chair as Mr. Garrison's voice scared the hell out of him. It was pretty common for him to just sleep through classes, after all he spent his nights fighting against crime, but Mr. Garrison had some sadistic pleasure in waking him up even when he wasn't talking about anything remotely interesting, but this time, Kenny was kinda glad the man did. That nightmare hadn't been really nice, it just reminded him how bad he felt after leaving Chaos with a black eye and inside a garbage container. Ever since that night, he hadn't seen Professor Chaos, and that worried him. Maybe he injured himself more severely than Kenny though-

Snapping from his thoughts, the rest of the class were watching him. Kyle was giving him that glare that meant he knew something was wrong with Kenny. Of course the smart-ass redhead knew, from the first time he started worrying about it Kyle could see it clearly like he was a fucking crystal, it's to be expected. After all, the jew was the only one that knew about his secret identity as Mysterion, Kenny confided him everything he lived during his patrols; mostly because Kyle would surely kick his ass if he lied or kept a secret.

"Mmm... Did you need something, Mr. Garrison?"  
He asked while scratching his messy blonde hair. The older man sighed and rolled his eyes, continuing to write down some shit in the board. Probably resigned that Kenny never payed attention to the class anyways. The blond just yawned, as he felt a light tap to his shoulder. It was Stan.

"Are you okay? You seemed a bit startled"

Kenny rubbed his eyes and brushed it off, trying to pretend that it was nothing. Maybe if he pretended long enough, he could stop worrying about it.

"I'm okay, just a bit tired"

The rest of the class was uneventful. Stan seemed unconvinced, but brushed it off while Kyle glared his way a few times, every time his and Kenny's eyes met they shared a silent argument of sorts in which the blond could almost hear the redhead scolding him for staying up every night and telling him he had to sleep more, but Kenny wasn't really willing to listen. Kyle knew how many criminals are out there, and how much it meant for him to take upon the task of being a vigilante and protecting everyone else. Even if it tired him to death, he was immortal so it really didn't matter. Kyle wasn't aware of that, though. But even if he tried to explain, nobody would ever believe him. Specially Kyle, whose logic filled, smart-ass brain couldn't wrap itself around something so wild and weird. Heck, he couldn't even believe it when Kenny confessed being a night vigilante! Yet, thinking about it thoroughly, it made some sort of sense. Kenny had always been one to take a bullet for his friends and more.

 _"Of course you couldn't stand to see anyone suffer"_  
 _Said Kyle, still upset as he wrapped the bandage around Kenny's arm to stop the bleeding. He just got shot, and he needed someone to treat him. Quickly. He knew Kyle would know what to do, and even when the redhead was going to be pissed off as hell, he had no one else to turn to for help. As the jew applied pressure to stop the bleeding, Kenny explained everything. Every detail, even when he winced every now and then from the pain, Kyle couldn't care less as he just demanded an explanation._

 _"But"_  
 _As he finished, he went over to grab something from his work desk. Kenny watched him from the bed, curious to what he was lookin for in that mess of books and notes._

 _"I can't stand to see you running around like a moron"_  
 _Kyle held out his hand to Kenny, offering a small earphone._

 _"You need help"_

Ever since he accepted the earphone, it was like he immediately accepted to have Kyle involved in that whole mess, he accepted his help in tracking down bad guys and gangs, he accepted Kyle as his "chair boy" in every operation as a vigilante. It was dangerous, for both of them, the villains could track his earphone to Kyle and use him against Mysterion; he could get hurt, his family could get hurt, but the redhead didn't give a shit and Kenny couldn't lie, this was exciting.

As the class dismissed, Kyle immediately went to poke him in the forehead. He was such a mother hen.

"I told you, you have to rest" he pointed with a scowl, Stan beside him. Kenny couldn't help but think that maybe Stan had been a little jealous of him and Kyle lately, they were super best friends after all and it didn't feel right at all to keep such a secret between them two, but Kyle wasn't willing to tell him unless Kenny agreed with it. It would blow his mind for sure, so Kenny had been procrastinating telling him.

"Yeah Kenny, you've been looking very tired these past few days. You should rest"  
Kenny sighed; but nodded nevertheless. If that could get these two to stop worrying so much...

"You two sound like his wives"  
Spoke up Cartman, rolling his eyes.  
"Here you're worrying like pansies and he's most likely getting blowjobs from his girlfriend every night"

Both the raven and the redhead glared daggers at him, and Kenny couldn't help the small laughter that bubbled down his throat; he didn't even have a girlfriend right now, but it was a wishful thinking. Besides he was right, they were worrying way too much.

"Like the ones you get from Heidi?"  
Retorted the jew, just to smile pleased at Cartman's irritation whenever they mentioned his ex. Their relationship had always been pretty rocky, so it wasn't a surprise when Heidi finally broke up with him. It was a bit sad, though, but maybe they weren't for each other in the end.

"Shut up, Kahl"

Kyle smiled, savoring his victory for now, as Kenny stood and grabbed his backpack.

"Are you guys coming with me today?"  
He was heading to the hospital today, like every day. His friends sometimes tailed along but he knew they had other classes to attend. He had art classes right now, but it really didn't matter if he just skipped them; after all, art classes gave you good grades just for trying. He just wanted to go to the hospital. He just wanted to stop worrying so much, but he couldn't.

"Sorry, Ken. I have practice today, but I'll go with you tomorrow, right?"  
Said Stan with a small smile and patted Kenny's shoulder, trying to reassure him. Every one of his friends knew he was worried, yet as much as they tried to reassure him, it was kind of futile.

"I'll go with you, I just have to-"

Before Kyle could finish, Cartman cleared his throat so loudly that it made all of them grimace, Kenny was sure his ears were bleeding internally or something because it was an horrible sound.

"If I recall correctly, we have debate today, jew. And I am kicking your ass so you cannot scram!"

He pointed directly at the redhead, who immediately groaned and rubbed his temples. Cartman was never going to let him live with it if he wins the debate, so he had to attend like it or not. Stan and Kenny warned him of that when he took debate as his extracurricular class, but he didn't listen. He was kind of drugged in the satisfaction of out smarting everyone, he even forgot where he was until he came face to face with Cartman. The most stubborn fatass in the whole town.

"Dammit, I forgot. Sorry Kenny, next time it'll be"

Kenny nodded and waved at his friends before walking away from the classroom, but even from afar he heard Kyle call out;

"Tell Butters we said hi!"

"Tell Butters I am kicking his butt!"

That was Cartman, a second after he yelped; Kyle probably elbowed him. Yet, this is Cartman we're talking about, he was most likely pissed off that Butters was absent from school during all these days. Butters was one of the few that could put up with Cartman and hear him out, so even when the fatass seemed so stubborn and pissy, Kenny knew he was worried as well. All of them were, after what happened to their small buddy.

It was a few weeks back, Kenny wasn't sure how many and he really didn't care, that day school seemed a little weird as he realized that Butters was missing from his usual seat. Jimmy usually sat beside him, and when Kenny questioned him with the glare, the handicapped just shrugged his shoulders to his ears. It was uncommon for the blond to be absent, but it was even more weird when Linda Stotch called out Mr. Garrison and talked with him outside the classroom. Stan and Kyle were positive something was wrong; even when Butters almost broke his neck and had to start wearing that ridiculous head brace he was never absent from class, maybe because that could get him grounded. When their teacher came back he just summarized that Butters was sick and wasn't coming today and maybe tomorrow, either.

Weird enough, but they all decided to go to his house to try and cheer him up. Yet, they soon found out from Linda that he was in the hospital. She seemed so distraught and some of her words didn't made sense at all, when they asked her for more about the small blond she just started to sputter some weird shit about finding Butters vomiting, and spasming and coughing blood and it sounded like a retelling of the fucking movie of the exorcist. According to her, it was because he tripped and had a concussion of sorts but it sounded way too serious to be just that. Then again, Butters was prone to injuring himself, so whatever it was they were sure he could get over it and return to school in a few days.

Such a wishful thinking.

He didn't came back. Not the next day, or the following one, or the whole week for the matter. As much as they tried to tell themselves he would be okay, whenever they asked Linda she just distressed over how it was becoming worse with each passing day, according to the Doctor he may have some minor internal damage that made him cough blood so often, maybe even an infection of sorts, yet he always said "maybe" like he wasn't really sure what's wrong with him. And this was eating Kenny alive.

He had died so many, many times that he already knew more ways to die than anyone else, he knew about common illness, about sexual illness, but with so little information Linda gave him he had no idea of what Butters was going through and it was killing him inside with so much worry. Now that he thinks of it, Butters got sick the day after his last encounter with Professor Chaos. Maybe that's why he couldn't shake the small villain off his mind, the worry he felt over Butters and the worry he felt over Chaos seemed to be blending together and making him restless with those creepy nightmares.

The first few days, the whole group went to visit him at Hell Pass hospital. Even Token, Clyde, Tweek and Craig where there, as well as Wendy and Bebe, they all managed to cheer Butters a little with jokes on how he looked kinda miserable after eating so much hospital food, but after that Kenny continued to visit every day. Stan and Kyle reassured him that the small blond is going to be okay in a few days, but he just wanted to see it for himself. He wanted to see how Butters finally got better, but after two weeks everything was the same. If anything, he looked even more pale and Kenny could do nothing to help besides smile and tell him that everything will be alright, even when he wasn't quite sure about it.

He wasn't sure about anything. He wasn't sure if keeping the positivism is helping at all.

So, rather than staying at home and letting his thoughts get the best of him, he preferred to go out on patrols as Mysterion and punish some evil dudes. At least, this way he was being of use. Even when he ended tired to the core after every patrol, he couldn't bring himself to lay down and sleep. Every time he did so, he grew anxious and started to pace around. Yet it seems like Mr. Garrison's voice was magical or just plainly boring that it lulled him to sleep almost instantly.

He'd rather not sleep than have those nightmares. He had to be positive, Chaos must be okay, Butters is going to be okay as well.

As he made his way through the hospital, some nurses greeted and waved at him. A few even winked; after coming so often he already had some sort of reputation around here, Butters' Doctor already knew him ever since their childhood. Mostly because every time the small blond got injured Kenny was the one to be with him in the hospital, not only when they pulled the ninja shuriken out of his eye but almost every time. He sometimes brought Karen along, Kenny told her so many stories about his friends that she grew fond of them to the point of considering them her older brothers as well. Lately she asked him a few times if she could tail along to see Butters, but she was never able to make it as she had classes and often meetings to study with her friends.

He finally made it to the room, in the door there was a small sign that read "Room 304". Kenny knocked gently before entering the spacious place, it had enough room for two beds but oddly enough there was just one of them. Lucky for Butters that he had the whole room for himself, but it seemed a bit lonely. He always kept the window open, the gently breeze moving the curtains as the gentle sun glow filtered and bathed the whole place, it matched with Butters' sunny blonde hair as he sat up on his bed; his eyes unfocused and faint, dark circles under them. The pain hadn't allowed him to properly rest, as a bandage was wrapped around his head to cover the bruise in the right side of his forehead; according to his mother that's where he hit himself when he tripped, it had been bleeding when she found him. His left eye was slightly bruised on the edges as well; the same eye that held the scar that Kenny made all those years back. The rest of his skin looked sickly pale in comparison to how it commonly used to be in the verge of rosy pale and slightly tanned, and an IV bag was connected to his wrist. Kenny's eyes immediately wandered over the untouched tray of food in the night stand, at first Butters was eating like a normal person would, but during his latest visits Kenny noticed how there were more and more leftovers to the point he simply left the food untouched because he wasn't hungry at all. At least he had the IV's connected, for Kenny it sounded way worse to vomit everything he ate than have it feed directly to his veins.

"Hey Buttercup"

The small blonde blinked a few times, before focusing on Kenny and smiling. It was such a tired smile, even when the sun covered his features he looked so tired... Kenny wondered if that's how he himself looked after patrolling all night, if that was the case then he could perfectly understand why Stan and Kyle worried so much.

"Hi, Kenny!"

Kenny smiled back, trying to hide his worry as he approached and took a seat in the bed beside Butters. He hadn't noticed it, but beside the food tray there was a small notebook and a pencil; he knew that Leo loved to sketch doodles every time he got a chance. It used to be just a hobby, according to Butters, but he had gotten so good at it that all his friends agreed that he had some natural talent of sorts; yet the boy always insisted that his parents wouldn't want him to waste his time with that. Stephen and Linda could be such a pair of fuckers; luckily they didn't made Butters do homework while being sick. The only person in this world that enjoyed doing homework during a sick day must be Kyle.

"Had no appetite today, either?"

He gestured the tray and Butters shook his head, a small scowl on his lips. Well, Kenny had to admit that Hospital food is gross. This one didn't look so bad, though.

"I haven't been very hungry, you can have it if you want"

The taller blonde exaggerated a grimace, making a loud sound of disgust. It made Butters smile, he looked so comical. Almost like a cartoon.

"Hospital food? Really? Do you want to poison me or something?"

Butters shrugged. "Hey, it's not so bad after you get used to it"

Kenny hummed a little, before reaching to take the small cup of pudding. Butters isn't going to eat it anyways, and the sugar may keep him awake for the rest of the day.

"I'll believe in your word, just this once"

Taking the small, plastic spoon he peeled open the sweet treat. Well, not so sweet, hospitals were very strict with the sugar levels and all those shit so it wasn't as sweet as Kenny would have preferred it to be, but for now it'll do the trick.

"So, tell me Butters"  
He began, spoonful of pudding in his mouth.  
"How have you been feeling today?"

The boy immediately tensed a bit. Bad signal. Yet, he tried to keep smiling at Kenny and brush it off.

"I am better, I haven't coughed today"

 _"E-Every time he tried to talk, he... H-he coughed blood a-and...!"_

 _As Linda tried to retell how she found Butters, her voice shook badly. She eventually broke into sobs, her husband comforting her by rubbing small circles on her back and looking worried as well. They could be such a strict parents, but their worry about Butters seemed very genuine to Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny._

 _"We called an ambulance, when they arrived Butters was having spasms and had vomited a few times"_

 _Finished Stephen, as Linda wiped her tears with a tissue._

 _"We didn't know what else to do"_

If he hadn't coughed today, it was a good sign, but as soon as Kenny opened his mouth to retort, Butters started coughing. It lasted a few seconds, but when he removed the hand from his mouth Kenny could see the blood on it.

"Hamburgers"

That's the only thing he could mutter as his eyebrows dropped in defeat, Kenny said nothing but reached for the box of tissues in the night desk, handing him one to clean the blood from his hand and wipe the droplets that fell from the corner of his mouth.

"If this is the first time you cough today, that means it's getting better"

Butters nodded, and to be honest this seemed better than before. Kenny has seen him before, trapped into a coughing fit while the dark blood leaked free from his mouth, he had to cover his lips with both hands to keep it from spilling all over the white blankets.

"It's weird, I spent the whole night without coughing"

He furrowed his brows, a bit weirded out. Kenny couldn't help but frown slightly; does that mean he stayed up all night? Sure Kenny himself stayed up all night fighting crime like a lunatic with a mask and a cape, but that was different. Butters is sick, he needs to rest.

"You stayed up the whole night?"

The smaller blond nodded. "I couldn't sleep, the Doctor changed the bandages and it still hurts"

He moved his hand to touch the bandages that cover his forehead. Kenny reached out to touch them as well, lightly caressing his forehead and running his fingers through the sunny blond hair.

"But that's enough about me. What did you guys do at school today?"

Butters hastily changed the subject, Kenny noticed. He often did that to avoid entering in details about his wounds or his illness. That's what gave Kenny the feeling that this must be more serious than a few injuries, there must be more than meets to eye. The single wound on his forehead seemed too small to cause him so much pain, the Doctor guessed minor internal damage damage of sorts, but to what extent? And how did it happen?

 _Who did this to you, Butters?_

No one is dumb enough to believe he just tripped and fell and instantly got sick.

"Ken?"

He snapped out of his thoughts, Butters looked at him with some curiosity and worry. Then, he noticed he had been frowning. He has to smile, he must smile.

"The same shit as always, Mr. Garrison started to talk about who knows what and I fell asleep"

The taller blond tried to be casual and brush away his worry. Nothing is more casual than to talk about Mr. Garrison and his unhealthy obsession with Game of Thrones.

"He might have been talking about Game of Thrones like always, I swear to God he's obsessed with that crap. I wish he could just get a girlfriend or a boyfriend and start thinking about something else for once"

Butters nodded truthfully, and Kenny let out a sigh.

"The guys miss you a lot"

For some reason, it seemed to surprise Butters. Like he couldn't believe that his own friends worried about him.

"Even Cartman?"

"Even Cartman"

Well, Kenny found that it was a little difficult to believe that Cartman worried about someone. Sometimes he worried about Kyle, but he'd rather die than admit it aloud.

Leaving in the tray the empty cup of pudding, Kenny reached out to grab the small notebook in the desk. He was curious as to what else Butters drew these past few days, he knew that every restless night was spent doodling and sketching, and no matter how tired his mind was Butters still did an impressive job. He is the reincarnation of the fucking Picasso, Kenny suggested a few times. As soon as he opened it, the first drawing he saw made him smile with half lidded eyes.

"And you seem to miss them a lot as well"

Butters hummed for a second, then his cheeks blushed a bright pink when he saw Kenny eyeing one of his latest works; it was their group, even when it had no deeper details he managed to perfectly catch their consistent appearances made out of several rough lines. Now that Kenny thinks about it, he could recognize that poses; Stan was smiling, while Kyle looked away with a scowl and Cartman had a mischievous smirk while he poked at Kyle's cheek, and behind them there was Kenny, back then his orange parka still covered his whole face so just his eyes could be seen as he had his hand raised, like trying to be noticed. Kenny remembers that day! It was like, a year ago; Kyle lost some sort of bet against Cartman and Stan couldn't help but laugh at how silly they were, when Butters arrived he asked where Kenny was and he quickly raised his hand to be noticed. Butters must have some sort of photographic memory to remember the exact pose, and the exact expressions they had back then.

"Y-Yeah, I think I missed them so badly that before I knew it... I was already drawing without even thinking. Is not really good"

He looked away, rubbing his knuckles as he always does when he's nervous. Kenny shook his head with a chuckle.  
"You're too hard on yourself"

It was true, he never considered his drawings to be actually good, always so modest. He had to give himself some credit from time to time. Turning the page, there were a few drawings of places like the classroom and some of Butters' mom. He always drew her with a smile and made her look beautiful, even when Kenny could recall that Linda once turned insane and tried to drown her own son in the Bathtub. She wasn't the mentally healthiest woman, but Ken could tell that she genuinely cared about Butters and worried about him even more than anyone else. He had to give her that.

Butters also loved to draw what he saw outside the room's window, sometimes a few birds came in and the boy would spend hours just giving details and shading to their feathers, it could be seen by how realistic they looked. There were also a few drawings of squirrels as well, and there was one of-

"Ehhhh, Butters, is this Craig?"

Butters looked over the sketch and replied.  
"Yes, that's Craig"

Sure enough, the image depicted Craig outside the room's window. The same hat with a puff on top, the same apathetic look on his face.

"I was kind of in trance while I drew, I hadn't noticed him until he talked"

True enough, Kenny knew that artists got into some kind of trance in which they could be tired or dying but they still focused In finishing their work.

"And what did he say?"  
Asked Ken, weirded out.

"Hey"  
Butters tried to recreate Craig's deep, monotone and nasal tone.  
"Then, he left"

"Weirdo"

Said the taller blond with a small scowl, but soon it was gone as he continued to eye the remaining sketches. Butters had a story for each of them, even the ones that made no sense to Kenny and seemed like shading and lines that had no pattern, they made sense to the small one as he pointed out that he sometimes saw figures when he slept; yet when he explained them to Kenny they kind of looked like a face of sorts. Heck, Butters had to stop watching cartoons before going to sleep.

* * *

It was almost evening when he waved his goodbye to Butters, Linda arrived most likely to force him into eating something or give him a bath, which sounded pretty funny actually but Kenny knew when to take his leave. He'll be patrolling this night, too, so he had to call Kyle. If he was lucky, Kyle won the debate and is savoring his victory over Cartman with a shit eating grin; the other way around... If Cartman won he'll most likely stay up re-reading every godamned book to secure a future victory.

As he pulled out his phone, he heard an small voice. Looking around he found out to whom it belonged.

"Kennyyyyy!"

Still a little smaller than a normal girl of her age, there was Karen, running towards him and waving with a big smile. Following behind there were her friends; Ike who also smiled at him and Tricia; Craig's little sister who looked like a female version of him with those monotone eyes, and of course the weird gothic kid, Firkle. He looked so uncaring and harmless but like the other goths Kenny knew he was the devil in flesh and bone. But as long as he doesn't flirt with Karen or something, he was okay.

She stumbled when she reached her brother, but luckily he caught her on time.  
"Not so fast, little bird!"  
They both giggled a bit. That's how they were, dumb and reckless and Kenny liked to use some odd but cute sounding nicknames, but they loved each other all the same. They had some weird antics, but those were their weird antics and they wouldn't change them for anything.

"You went to see Butters? How's him? His wound healed? Did that nurse gave you her number?"  
Talking a mile per second, she was always so cheerful and full of energy.

"Looks like someone ate a lot of sugar today"  
He chuckled.  
"Yeah, he's doing a little better today. The wound is still there, though"

Karen looked a bit down at this; she always asked about Butters and Kenny always lied that he was getting better. She worried as well, both for Butters and for Kenny whom she knew was sickly worried even when he always managed a smile to reassure her.

"And no, she didn't gave me her number. I think she's playing it hard to get me in her web"  
He said the last part in a whisper, making the blonde girl giggle a bit. It was true that several Nurses were drooling over him even when he was younger... But what could he say? His charm was as natural as it was natural for Butters to draw like Picasso. Yet, none of them really caught his interest. They all seemed a bit plain, and besides every time he came to the hospital he focused on Butters, not in getting numbers.

"And what did you do today? Did you rob a bank or something?"

Karen sighed. "That would have been way funnier than the boring project I was assigned to" she pointed behind her, at Tricia. "Tricia and I will be working on it tonight at her house"

Kenny nodded; it sounded nice. Since he would be patrolling tonight, it's better for Karen to stay out. Every time she had nightmares she immediately ran to her big Brother's room, and Kenny was always there to comfort her, but lately he had to stay out as Mysterion and it would disappoint her greatly to find the room empty. Even when it has been a year or so ever since the last time Kenny had to comfort her after a bad dream, now she often spend her nights at Tricia's as they practically had the house for themselves because Craig generally helped Tweek and his parents at the café. Karen was growing so fast and becoming a woman, it made Kenny sentimental every time he though about it.

"Sounds good, but don't stay up so late watching that sappy yaoi series, they'll do you no good"

And by sappy yaoi series, he meant the hardcore yaoi porn the Asians loved to watch. Even when Karen wasn't very aware what they were about since the voices were in Japanese, she still watched them at late night. Still so young and already so mature, at her age Kenny already read every porn magazine in their home.

"You know I will, Kenny"  
She winked mischievously and Kenny rolled his eyes. Well, he tried, at least.

"I'll see you tomorrow, bro"  
Karen hugged him and he received her, at least this won't change no matter how much she grows up. She'll always be the same small, affectionate bird he loves so much. As they separated, Karen walked away with her friends, waving at Kenny all the way. Ike waved at him as well and Tricia made some sort of gesture with her hand; she was most likely flipped him off or something but that was how the Trucker family communicated, it meant all sort of things like hello and goodbye, as well as fuck off and who knows what else. Firkle didn't say a thing, but he was always very silent every time Kenny saw him.

When they were far away, he pulled his phone to call Kyle just like he planned to. He was the first contact in the quick deal, followed by Karen. Kenny could still remember her reaction when he collected enough money to buy her that phone for her birthday, she looked like she wanted to cry and laugh and puke all at once; under her contact there was Stan's and following closely there's... Butters'. They didnt call each other so often because every time the small blond got grounded, his parents took away his phone. So, they preferred to talk face to face at school or Kenny simply entered Butters' room by the window. Leo always surprised when he did that, wondering how Kenny managed to climb up to the second floor.

As he called Kyle, it took a few seconds for the redhead to answer.

"What do you want Kenny?"  
He snapped. Oh shit, it means he must have lost the damned debate.

"Are you up for patrolling?"

"Yeah, sure. I have nothing better to do while I read the fucking constitution of South Park- can you believe the shit Cartman pulled on me? And the dumbass teacher allowed that sort of argument like it was nothing- dammit Kenny, stop laughing!"

At this point, Kenny wasn't trying to hold back his laughter anymore. This was just so silly, Kyle must admit that his life would be boring without Cartman.

Mysterion stared down from one tall building, as the police cars departed, taking to the jail the gang tugs he just took down. Another job well done, these cowards tried to rape a young woman; all of them at once! And there were like, four of them! Luckily Kenny heard her screams echo in the walls of the alleyway, otherwise he wouldn't have arrived on time.

"The cops just left, I think is pretty late already. What's the time?"

He asked over his earphone, and could heard as something crushed in Kyle's mouth; maybe popcorn.

"It's 3:23 am already, apart from those guys it's been pretty uneventful tonight. You should take the rest of the night to sleep"  
He replied after swallowing his treat.

"Yeah, I think I'll do that. Besides I don't want to hear you talking shit about the Constitution anymore"

He could almost see the smirk in Kyle's face as he chuckled.  
"Actually it's not as bad as it sounds, if you skip the first 20 pages of the introduction"

Here comes a ramble, it made Kenny groan. Jesus, Kyle is the only that could enjoy reading that crap!

"Besides it's full of fun facts, did you know that the hanged guy in the flag is actually a girl? The artist made her that way because he couldn't draw breasts or something"

Mysterion just rolled his eyes, already tired of this.

"Really? Even I know how to do that"

"Even you know how to do what?"

Kenny hadn't noticed it, too focused in his conversation with Kyle, but that voice came from somewhere else.

"How to draw breasts, you just have to sketch some circles and-"

Wait.

He spun around, just to see the figure stepping out of the shadows; boots creating loud footsteps and the icy wind of South Park blew his cape.

"Professor Chaos"

It's been a long, Mysterion wanted to say, his eyes glued at the small villain like they hadn't seen each other in ages. It sure felt like that, Chaos had never been absent for such a long time.

"Chaos? Again?"  
Kyle's voice resonated, but Kenny ignored him for now as he got closer to take a better look of Chaos. He looked just like he did back then when he fell from the building, the black bruise Mysterion gave him last time apparently healed as his mismatched blue eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the night, yet they seemed to lack some of their usual gleam. No matter how long he tried to stare into them, Kenny will never be able to point out what the heck made his eyes look mismatched, it was a tiny difference that will always be there. Maybe he wore some weird contacts?

"It's been a long"  
Mysterion smiled slightly; it really was a relief that he seemed alright, yet he simply stood there, what Kenny managed to made out of his face under the light of the Moon and the shade of his helmet suggested that his gaze was fixed on Mysterion, eyes unblinking and mouth into a emotionless frown. Kenny couldn't blame him if he got angry after last time, something he learned after facing the small villain so many times is that he'll always find a reason to be stubborn and keep throwing tantrums. It reminded him of a much more naive and small version of Cartman.

"How's your eye?"  
Chaos lidded his eyes, but didn't pout. Whenever he pouted it made Kenny want to laugh and ruffle his hair. He was such a child, despite apparently being the same age as Ken, he was slightly shorter and needles to say he acted pretty childishly as well, more often than not.

"It's better, now that I'll get the chance to make you pay for it"  
His frown quickly got replaced by a smirk, and the purple robbed vigilante wanted to scoff; yeah, sure, like he could-

But in the blink of an eye, the words died in Mysterion's throat as Chaos was no more. Where the hell? Did he learn how to blend in the shadows? So unfair, Kenny wanted to hide in the darkness as well like the freaking Batman.

"Chaos? Where did you-?"

"I am right beside you, Mysterion"

Sure enough, Chaos was behind him. Kenny tried to turn around, but he suddenly felt something sharp touch the part of his neck that wasn't covered by his cape and hood. It was a bit cold to the touch as well, a knife?

"What the hell?"

The vigilante felt impressed and unimpressed at the same time, he has been in situations like this one a thousand times before, a pointy knife or even a gun couldn't make him flinch, but the fact that Chaos was the one pulling out that cliché shit on him left Mysterion weirded out. The boy had never been one to really bring a weapon other than that time when he brought a golf club and Kenny had to break the damned thing. According to Chaos, his father was going to ground him for that.

"Don't move"

He rolled his eyes; now this got ridiculous. Chaos trying to seize him? Really? Reaching out he grabbed Chaos' arm even without needing to turn around, and with a quick movement he swung forward the small villain, making him fall flatly in the concrete surface of the building. Hopefully Kenny knew the helmet protected his head; otherwise he'll get a concussion or something since the vigilante's reflexes were pretty sharp, at the minimal signal of danger his body moved at it's own to protect himself.

"Ughhh...!"  
Chaos whined from the floor, and Kenny sighed with exasperation. That's what he gets for worrying about Chaos so much. A freaky kid trying to point a knife to his neck, maybe the vigilante had been a little rough on him lately but he must understand that he should stop playing like that, specially when knifes are involved.

"I don't know what the hell you tried to do, but I'll let it pass this time"  
He tried for his deep, fake tone to sound firm.  
"You shouldn't be playing around with that kind of stuff, anyone could use it against you"

As Chaos stayed on the floor, Mysterion crouched down to take the knife away from his hands, but to his surprise the smaller refused to let go of it, grabbing the handle firmly as the sharp edge pointed at Kenny.

"Enough, just give me the knife and we'll forget about this"

The irritation in Chaos' face said otherwise as he held tightly on the handle, under his gloves his knuckles might have turned white with the strength he was mustering right know to put up with Kenny and struggle.

"Never!"

Stubborn as always.

"I am warning you Mysterion, let go"

Another warning, it made Kenny roll his eyes again. Like that could scare him, Chaos would never use the knife properly and besides, the worst he could do was stab the vigilante and make him bleed, that wouldn't stop him from taking the knife from the small villain's hands, if he allowed him to keep it the boy will most likely end injuring himself or worse- someone else could injure him.

"I warned you"

At this point, Kenny didn't care. He waited for Chaos to stab him and his brain to process the pain, not that it could actually stop him, but the pain never came. Looking down, he could see blood. A lot of blood, oozing from the blade that pierced Chaos' abdomen, under his ribs. Dark blood stained his cape, his clothes, some droplets also stained Mysterion's outfit as it kept flowing out like a waterfall and pooling itself under the small villain's body. It took Kenny a moment to fully comprehend what happened; the freaking lunatic of Chaos stabbed himself, and he still glared at him with a goddamned feeble smile, like he just found amusing the whole situation in which he was losing so much blood and Mysterion could only stare at him, still not fully understanding why the hell Chaos did that.

"Chaos, what the fuck?"  
To his surprise, Chaos made a sound that resembled a weak laugh of sorts.

"A-Always so selfless and kind... Mysterion. Y-You wouldn't have cared if I stabbed you, w-would you...?"

Voice shaky but smiling proudly, he let out an actual laugh that made Kenny grind his teeth in frustration, but soon enough it stopped as Chaos found himself trapped into a coughing fit.

"It h-hurts, but... That look on your face i-is completely worth it!"

Fucking lunatic, what the hell was he thinking about? Kyle's voice snapped him out of his frustration.

"What happened Kenny? Are you okay?"

He moved quickly, ripping a piece of his own cape.

"Call an ambulance, now"

"Wha- yeah, I will!"

Luckily Kyle didn't dwell on it too long, at this rate Chaos will lose all his blood in matter of seconds. Kenny knew that spot had no vital organs, but still the blood loss will make him feel dizzy and light headed; so he tried to apply pressure with the piece of his cape as he gently removed the knife to prevent it from piecing his abdomen any further.

"Stay awake, Chaos. I know it hurts but you have to stay awake"

Looking over the small villain, a few tears rolled down his cheeks as he nodded. That image truly carved deep into Kenny's soul, he had grown so used to that kid that it seemed just wrong to see him suffer like this. Even when he was stupid enough to put himself into that situation.

"I called the ambulance and gave them your location, they'll be there in ten minutes or so"

Alright, Kyle could be annoying as hell sometimes but he was a very good chair boy and partner. He applied more pressure, hoping Chaos would last that much longer.

"Thanks" he replied over the earphone. "Help is coming, but It'll take a while, so please stay awake, no matter how sleepy you feel, please stay awake"

There was so much worry in his deep voice, Kenny couldn't bring himself to care if his deep, scary tone drooped and his real voice resurfaced, it didn't matter right know. He just tried to keep the smaller boy steady and be calm until help comes; if he loses his cool that would surely make Chaos panic and freak out over his blood loss. The villain nodded again, this time more slowly.

"Don't focus in the pain or you'll feel worse, focus in me instead. Talk to me, you can insult me as much as you want but talk to me"

It took a few moments, but Chaos finally fixed his glare on Mysterion, mismatched blue eyes filled with tears staring at the crouching vigilante that tried to stop the bleeding, he finally spoke up through his pain.

"Y-You're... Such a g-goody two shoes, Mysterion"

Yeah, Professor Chaos has never been really good at coming up with mean insults, just his usual trash talk of how he'll never forgive this world and Mysterion is such a fool for protecting everyone and the usual shit. But hey, at least it got him to push his pain away for a split second.

"I know I am, but keep talking. Don't stop"

He remained silent for a bit, probably forcing his mind to think of something else to say.

"A... Are... you w-wearing an earphone?"

Of course Chaos might have noticed that he sometimes talked to himself, and it didn't really matter that he knew Mysterion has a partner, he's harmless- well, harmless to the rest of the world, but pretty much harmful against himself, Kenny concluded. Self destructive, even. With what just happened...

"Yeah, I am"

The small villain hummed, sounding pained. "T-That's cool..." then, he started to cough. Loudly.

"I-I just got this"

Kenny wasn't focusing on him, his eyes glued to the bleeding wound; he failed to notice it when Chaos pulled out a pencil. It was apparently perched over his ear, hidden by his helmet. It wasn't as impressive as the tiny, almost unnoticeable earphone Kyle made Kenny wear in order to communicate.

"M-Mysterion..."

With every passing minute, his voice sounded more and more feeble. The vigilante felt how the small villain put a hand on his head, over his hood, trying to draw his attention.

But when he looked up to meet Chaos' eyes, he could have never guessed what happened next.

It was in such a quick motion, as the hand that held unto the pencil moved quickly, stabbing Kenny straight in the left eye. The sharp point went through his eyeball and most likely popped it in the process, the pencil dig itself deeply into his socket and the pain was so intense that it made his head sting and his ears ring, did that thing reach his brain? How the hell Chaos mustered so much strength to impale his eye like that?

He had no time to think about it, as his hands left the wound he had been applying pressure to and they immediately reached out to his aching eye, trying to reach for the fucked pencil but not quite daring to even touch it in fear of making matters worse. Screaming out in pain, he stumbled backwards as blood and maybe bits and parts of what used to be his eyeball leaked out of the socket.

"FUCK! FUCK CHAOS!"

He had to admit that it hurted a whole lot, he could do nothing but shake in the floor with pain and mutter more and more obscenities. His right eye couldn't quite focus in anything else, while the impaled one could see nothing but black and maybe red, every blood vessel in his socket having popped out and his eyeball destroyed beyond repair, it was like a TV with no signal and filled with static instead.

"I c-can't believe you fell for that!"

Muffled by the ringing of his ears, Chaos spoke up but Kenny barely registered it. Kyle also saying something in the earphone, probably distressed over Kenny's screams; but he couldn't quite make out what it was, let alone give a coherent answer.

"Sorry, Mysterion b-but..."

Professor Chaos was still pained, but he managed to stand and press the cloth to his abdomen. Suddenly he didn't seem as pained as he originally was, his legs were still shaky but he still managed a smirk. A smirk Kenny couldn't properly see, but hear in his voice.

"That's the law of the life. Eye for eye"  
He reached to touch the edge of his mismatched left eye, his tone teasing as he stared down at the suffering vigilante. He couldn't take it any longer, his throat felt raw after screaming so much, his head felt like it would split in a half if he doesn't take the damned pencil out right now.

He tried to steady his breath, and when his shaky hands finally grabbed the thing-

"Don't worry, let me help you with that"

 _The fuck?!_

Chaos grabbed the pencil as well, and sunk it deeper into the socket and into his already damaged brain. Nothing made sense anymore as he could see nothing else, or hear whatever else Chaos had to say, the last thing he heard were his own screams and feel not only how the pencil digged into his skull, but he felt how Chaos spun it inside the socket, carving a hole in his brain and making more blood and fluids to spill from the hole that used to be his left eye. He even felt how the tip broke inside his brain, but nothing else could be done. He couldn't feel anything anymore, his body just went limp with no more energy to scream or struggle.

* * *

 _"Kenny was right, it looks pretty badass"_

 _All four of them, still as kids, stared at Butters as he showed them the scar of the ninja Shuriken on his left eye. It was still pink, but it didn't bother Butters anymore._

 _"Yeah, it's cool, but..."_  
 _Of course Cartman wouldn't admit that it was badass._  
 _"Butters is too bland for it, it would look way more badass in someone cooler"_

 _Kyle, Kenny, Stan and Butters raised their eyebrows at him._

 _"Someone like me"_  
 _He was quickly to note, putting his hand over his chest; Kyle couldn't help but scoff at the brunette's big ego._

 _"Hmm..." Stan hummed, trying to picture how Cartman would look with that scar._  
 _"Nah, I think it would make you look like a dumbass"_

 _Eric instantly scowled, and Kyle snorted a laugh._  
 _"He already looks like a dumbass, Stan"_

 _"At least I don't look like a ginger, Daywalker"_

 _Here it comes, from that on they'll be insulting each other left and right until someone tries to stop them; probably Stan. He was ready to hear them rambling the whole class, until he spotted the black marker in Stan's desk. An idea struck him like a thunderbolt._

 _"Hey guys"_  
 _They snapped from the argument between the redhead and the brunette, just to look at Kenny who ran the black marker over his left eye to recreate Butters' scar on him. It looked somewhat similar, actually, except that the real one was pink._  
 _"How do I look?"_

 _"Whoa, you two look like a pair of badass twins"_  
 _Exclaimed Kyle. Butters and him exchanged a glance; despite their blond hair and blue eyes they weren't that much alike, Butters was smaller and his hair was pretty spiky, sunny blonde while Kenny's was a dirty blonde of sorts- dirty because he hadn't washed it in days. It was pretty greasy and messy. Their eyes were also of different hues of blue, not to mention the portion of the scar that ran inside Butters' left eye._

 _"Yeah, you two are 20% more badass now than you used to be"_  
 _Said Stan after his best friend. This brought Kenny down, just 20%?_

 _"I don't think we look like twins, I mean, Kenny's taller than me"_  
 _That's Butters, he had a bit of a complex that he was one of the small guys in the classroom, followed by Kyle and Pip, and in last place there's Tweek who's the smallest by various inches._

 _"Screw the height, put on a parka and anyone will look like Kenny's twin"_  
 _Spoke up Cartman._

 _"You wouldn't, You are too fat to even fit in a parka"_  
 _Kyle grinned at his own commentary, much to Cartman's irritation._

 _"I told you I am big boned, fucking jew!"_

 _As he snapped, all of them laughed and continued to tease the boy. Yet, Kenny couldn't shake the though that Butters and him were so different, the smaller blond forgave him so easily for the ninja Shuriken, and he still couldn't bring himself to stop feeling bad about it. He even wished to be the one who got his eye pierced, instead._


	3. Chapter 3: Leo and Ken

_They were in a rush. The guys always were in a rush, from everyone else's perspective, they always were into some weird adventure of sorts, no one knows if the town is the one to blame since weird shit always happened; or Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny practically attracted the oddities it's always a mystery. Either way, outside their group other people didn't dare to get that much close in fear of being dragged into some supernatural bullshit. Not that they needed anyone else in their group to get in troubles, of course. Luckily today they were just trying to get out of the crowded school and reach Stan's house were a bucket full of fried chicken is waiting for them. The first one to arrive gets the breast, and hell they were excited for it. Mainly Cartman, who mustered strength from fuck knows where to push away his fat and run like a wild animal, Stan and Kyle stayed close to Kenny, the raven taking the lead while the redhead tugged on Kenny's parka to drag him along so he doesn't stay behind. He would run, but Stan's mom is such a kindhearted lady; she wouldn't allow the rest of the guys to eat fried chicken without him. They were all best friends, after all._

 _"Dammit Cartman! If you touch my part I swear I'll...!"_

 _Stan shouted, with hopes that the fatass would hear him, yet; Eric was nowhere to be seen in the damn crowd of people and he'll most likely won't hear; as they ran they bumped into so many people that practically everyone in the hallways were swearing upon them. Gritting his teeth, Stan let go of the athlete inside him and ran ahead, Kyle trying to follow._

 _"Cartmaaaaaaaan!"_

 _He yelled from the top of his lungs, soon after disappearing in the crowd as well, pushing everyone around him from left to right. Kenny and Kyle just managed to follow his figure when he pushed Clyde and made him kiss the floor and whine, minutes after Tweek was the next to stumble, screaming that it might have been some gnome trying to kill him, while Pip helped him up._

 _"Stan, wait!"_  
 _Kyle also tried to go as fast as his legs allowed him to, while charging with the dead weight that was Kenny. Yeah, sounds selfish, but if Kyle is going to drag him all the way he might as well do the whole job without the blond needing to move a single muscle._

 _"Dammit Kenny, we must hurry!"_

 _As Kyle continued, Kenny crashed with various persons but the redhead still kept hold of him. That's it, until his whole body stumbled against someone and Kyle had to let go and keep running, leaving his orange clad friend in the floor; rubbing his forehead were he impacted with the person. That'll leave a bruise, but his parka can cover it._

 _"Oh my God, Butters killed Kenny!"_

 _Shouted Stan from far ahead, just stopping and turning around to see how Butters and Kenny stumbled and now both of them were on the floor, rubbing their foreheads simultaneously._

 _"That bastard!"_  
 _Said Kyle before turning around and continuing to run forward, along Stan. As much as Kenny wanted to shout at them that he's not death, he was tired of that crap and just wanted his fried chicken, yet before getting up he tried to help Butters collect what he dropped. Just a few books, and a sandwich. Poor sandwich, what a waste._

 _"Sorry about that"_  
 _He muttered under his parka, grabbing the books and standing, offering the smaller blond a hand to help him up. After all, it had been his fault that they fell; or rather Kyle's fault, but who cares?_

 _"Are you okay?"_  
 _Butters reached out to grab his hand, but still kept looking at him with slight confusion and his free hand over the growing bruise on his forehead. He didn't know what to say, maybe because he didn't understand Kenny. Like, at all._

 _Just his friends and a few others were capable of fully understanding Kenny's muffled words, or rather they managed to make out a few things there and there and from that guessed on, but since Butters didn't hang so often with the guys he didn't even have a clue of what the taller blond was trying to say. He often hung up with Craig and his gang, but to Kenny it seemed like the small boy didn't really enjoy it. Craig and Clyde and the others just liked to laugh at other's misfortune and bully, but whenever they did that Butters seemed like he forced a laugh to not disappoint his group, even now he seemed guilty over making Kenny stumble._

 _"T- Thanks Kenny, I'm sorry-"_

 _He started to rub his knuckles, nervous that Kenny would be mad at him, but stopping when Kenny waved his hand in a way that meant it was alright._

 _"It's fine, it was Kyle's fault"_

 _Butters apparently understood that and nodded._

 _"Are you guys okay? Cuz you seemed like something is chasing after you"_

 _The small blond looked back, nervous that someone or something may pop out of nowhere and chase after him and Kenny. He always seemed curious about their adventures, even when he never dared to join and hang with them. Despite so, Kenny considered him to be nice to talk to, not as harsh as everyone else and never looked down at him for being poor._

 _"The usual shit"_  
 _Kenny shrugged his shoulders to his ears, and Butters took that as a signal to relax._  
 _"Sorry about your sandwich"_

 _He pointed at the already dirtied mess that used to be a sandwich, Butters' gaze following his hand._  
 _"It's okay, I was full anyways"_

 _Kenny nodded, and turning around he walked away to follow his usual group of his friends, waving slightly to the boy with the turquoise sweater. They have never had real time to get to know each other, Butters and Kenny had been assigned to some projects together, along the rest of the guys like when they were assigned with Tweek, but Butters often ended being bossed around by Cartman or something. Maybe another day with less urgency Kenny would invite him to hang out. He won't say no because Kenny's poor, if anything he would say no out of fear of being dragged into some shit along them. Which is very likely to happen._

 _Butters was such a shy boy, he just needed a little push to see that Kenny and the guys could be good friends; he needed them to invite him in, yet they never did. They were always so busy and in a rush, Kenny could feel how the boy's eyes lingered on him for a few second as he left. It would have been funny to invite him along, but not right now. This wasn't the moment, yet._

* * *

Kenny woke up with a piercing scream that echoed in the run down walls of his room, his hand instantly reaching out to his left eye, were he could still feel the damn pencil sting in his socket. Practically jumping out of his bed, he went over the broken mirror in his desk to find that the sharp, wooden pencil was no more. Both his eyes in place, but the left one a little puffy and bloodshot. The eye was fine but if he continued to think about it and remember the pain, then it would inevitably become swollen up. That's the power of mind over the flesh.

He immediately rubbed it, vigorously, as if it could make the itching and stinging go away. Like it could make every memory go away. Like he could pretend everything was just one of those fucked up nightmares.

For Chaos, it most likely was. No one could remember him dying, after all.

"Dammit"  
He mumbled with venom, still unsure of how to feel about all of this. He has died enough times to distinguish between a nightmare and real life, and this time around he died in real life. Professor Chaos killed him. Heck, even the whole sentence sounded so wrong!

Chaos is a brat, he's been one ever since he appeared, he's no killer or at least not in Kenny's eyes, then what the hell happened? Did he finally lose it? Maybe it wasn't Chaos? Maybe it was some sort of evil guy dressed up as Chaos to get Mysterion to let his guard down, everything he did back that night seemed wrong! Stab himself, try to seize him with a knife... Nothing made sense. Whoever that was, he most likely forgot by know how he ruthlessly killed the vigilante. But Kenny will never forget. The pain will never be gone, it's always been like that.

Even his dear friends had killed him before. But the pain Kenny felt will never be gone. He forced himself to believe that it was some sort of side effect of his immortality, maybe it was. Or maybe not and he's just too stubborn to let go of things.

"Kenny?"

The door creaked open, just for Carol to enter with a mug of coffee and looking very tired. She always looked tired, even when she's way younger than other moms, she is and will always look tired and worn out.

"Are you okay? Did you fall from bed?"  
She asked with worry, her eyes managing to make out her son's puffy eye even in the dim lit room.

"Ehh... Yeah"  
He replied, pulling the parka hood over his head to try and conceal his eye under the shade, it was better to let Carol believe that and avoid her asking more and more questions. What else is he supposed to say? 'A schizophrenic impaled my eye but I am okay now so don't worry' didn't sound very nice.

"I just had a bad dream of sorts"  
Carol sipped from her coffee, still seeming a bit unconvinced.

"You've been having a lot of nightmares lately, are you sure everything is alright? Maybe you're pushing yourself too hard at work"

He shook his head; Carol knew perfectly well that he wasn't taking part time jobs right know because... Because he quitted the last one to go and visit Butters. Yet, she didn't dare to mention anything because she was a little afraid to meddle in her son's life. Ever since he started gaining more money out of part time works than Carol and Stuart from their meth lab, she understood Kenny was already an independent man. In a few months he did more for himself and Karen than Carol has ever done in her entire life for them, because everything she had and gained went to her husband. No matter what. She was ashamed of herself as a mother, but felt proud that Kenny grew to be such a nice young man, even when he wasn't the best example for Karen and his group of friends always messed things up, Carol had no right to tell him how to live his life; not after she screwed hers and almost her child's.

"I'm okay, mom"

She ultimately nodded, trying to push her worry aside.  
"You want some breakfast?"

"No thanks, I'm already late for school"  
Whatever she had for breakfast; Kenny didn't want to know, but it was better if she ate it instead. She looked like she needed it, and besides he was used to not eating so early.

Grabbing his backpack and his few notebook, the orange clad blond was ready to go. He stepped out of his room, Carol was making some sort of weird looking pancakes in the kitchen.

"One of your friends called a while before you woke"  
She said in her tired tone.

"Who?"  
She put a finger to her mouth, trying to remember who it was.

"That one you hang out with so much"  
Yeah, she forgot to add that they also had two feet, two legs and a face. Carol has never been good with names, mostly because of her blurry mind after inhaling so much meth. She's most likely referring to Kyle, though. They hung up quite a lot because of him knowing about Kenny's vigilante persona, and besides after what happened yesterday the redhead was probably confused, not remembering a single thing.

"What did he say?"

"That he'll talk with you at school, but I was starting to think you'll sleep in today. You actually should, with all those nightmares you haven't been able to rest properly"

He shook his head again; just like Stan and Kyle, Carol worried. She worried more than anyone else, it was her job as a mother after all. Even when she was more busy with Stuart working on the meth lab, she's worried about her children even when she never treated them like other moms. Carol never had time to take them out to the amusement park, or the fair, or attend to school reunions, she's always too busy and more focused in what Stuart wanted rather than in what she or her children wanted, but she still worried. She still loved and cared, and Kenny loved her too and wished he could protect her when his father got physical, but she had such a bad case of Stockholm syndrome in which she just allowed him to do as he pleased. There was nothing else he could do, not with Carol so attached to her abusive husband.

He didn't hate her for that, though. He'll never will, but it still hurts how she always chose Stuart over him, Karen and Kevin. It hurts how she chose to live for him instead. And no matter how much Carol worried or cared and tried to show how much she loved them, the pain will not be gone.

"Nah, I'm probably just watching too many movies these past few days"  
He opened the door, turning to wave at his mom one last time.  
"I'm leaving, see ya mom"

She smiled weakly. But it seemed genuine, yet a bit strained with worry.

"Have a nice day, sweetie"

* * *

 _"Fuck!"_

 _Kenny yelled, throwing his head back and making the hood of his parka fall, revealing his still childish face with freckles dusted beside his cheeks and over his nose. His body pressed against the wall as he sat, hugging his legs and letting large tears to stream down from his deep, ocean blue eyes, some strands of his blonde hair sticking to his face because of the wetness, but he doesn't give a damn about it._

 _"Fucking fatass, I'm never going to forgive you!"_

 _Heaven knows the pain he felt was deep and justified, even when others may found it to be stupid, Stan and Kyle also shared his pain and anger at some extent. After all, he considered Cartman a friend. Even when he though a few times that the brunette would end up eating his portion of the KFC bucket full of fried chicken, he never ever realized that the fucker may be that selfish and inconsiderate to eat the whole thing and leave not even a damn leg for him and his friends to get a taste. Now, there's no going back. There's no way Kenny could forgive him after that. He just wanted to die and drag Cartman with him to the grave._

 _"Kenny?"_

 _He snapped his head to look at the owner of that confused voice, and found Butters staring at him with worried; confused, sky blue eyes. For all he could recall it might have been the first time Butters saw him without his parka covering his whole face, apparently he just realized that it was Kenny the one crying._

 _"Butters"_  
 _Said him, looking at the boy with his tear stained face and slightly flushed cheeks. His voice sounded so miserable, worrying Butters even more._

 _"What's wrong? Are you okay?"_  
 _The smaller blond immediately sat down beside him, putting a hand over one of his shoulders, Kenny had to swallow the lump in his throat to try and muster coherent words; coherent words that wouldn't be obscenities, of course._

 _"I am not!"_  
 _He wiped his face with the sleeve of his parka. Really, not only Butters but Kenny doubted that anyone else has seen him this way before. When he wanted to cry, he just tightened the parka over his face even more. Now it would feel suffocating, he just wanted to let go of his bottled anger and pain._  
 _"T-That fucked psycho of Cartman a-ate the bucket of KFC Stan's mom bought for us!"_

 _Butters' eyes widened in horror._  
 _"He didn't even leave the bones!"_

 _"That's messed up!"_  
 _Said Leo, eyebrows furrowed as he reached to his pocket to pull out a tissue and hand it to Kenny; who immediately pressed it to his already stinging, flushed face._

 _"I just wanted a leg, a leg would have been fine..."_  
 _Now, his voice was slightly muffled by the soft tissue that absorbed the large droplets of salty water._  
 _"But he ate the whole thing, that selfish son of a bitch!"_

 _"Hamburgers, Cartman"_  
 _Butters muttered, probably feeling as well every bit of anger that dripped from Kenny's voice. It took a moment for the orange clad boy to realize it, but saying 'hamburgers' was an equivalent of saying 'dammit' for Butters._

 _"Someone should teach him a lesson!"_  
 _Leo balled his fists, and Kenny nodded eagerly. He never though Butters could understand, the smaller boy would feel sorry and try to comfort his distress, but he actually understood and that was a relief._

 _"How could he do something like that? I know the fried chicken is yummy and crunchy and all, but..."_  
 _He stopped in his tracks, realizing the glare Kenny was giving him. He wasn't helping. At all._

 _"Sorry, it's just- it's messed up"_  
 _The sunny blond finished, taking his hand off his friend's shoulder for a moment to rub his knuckles a bit as Kenny wiped his face with the tissue again._

 _"It is. But he'll pay for it"_  
 _Still distraught, he managed a small grin._  
 _"Stan and Kyle are already plotting something. He'll pay for it, Leo. He'll pay and even beg for forgiveness"_

 _Butters smiled as well, just slightly to accompany Kenny even if he sounded so scary right now. He wasn't sure what the guys were planning to do to Cartman, but it sounded like he deserved it. After this, Cartman might even buy the whole Fucking store of KFC for them and Kenny would never forget about the pain he felt when he found the empty bucket and practically threw himself at the floor to cry and beg Stan's mom to say that she bought more. That wasn't the case, unfortunately, and they all exploded in anger because that's one of the most fucked up things the fatass could ever do to them, Eric can simply forget because his mom bought him fried chicken on a regular basis, but the stain will never be gone. We may forget about the spilled wine, but the dark stain will never be gone._

 _His smile faded, as some new but smaller tears continued to roll down his cheeks. They weren't pained tears, neither they were full of anger anymore; they were just tears. They eventually stopped and he was left with the sense of loss that you have after a funeral, most likely because they actually made a funeral for the bucket of KFC, but still Butters kept his hand over his shoulder. Butters never left his side._

* * *

Kenny finally reached the bus stop, his friends waiting for him but he didn't catch it when they waved at him. He was still lost in thoughts and continued to rub his eye, it was so damn annoying that he might as well use an eyepatch and it would have looked better that way. Seriously, it looked like it may pop out or something at any moment. And the worst part is that the whole school would make fun of it.

"Hey, Ken!"  
Waved Stan.

"We though you weren't- dammit, what happened to your eye?"  
His smile instantly disappeared, and Kyle's eyes widened. Probably worrying over Kenny having got hit or something during his patrols.

"Is it infected?"  
Cartman peeked in, but quickly moved apart from him with a disgusted "Ewww!" and went to stand behind Kyle, practically pushing the redhead forward; towards Kenny.

"Yes, it's infected! Don't get any closer- infect Kahl, instead!"  
The brunette pushed him even more forward.  
"He's Jewish, his life is worthless than mine!"

"Fuck off, fatass!"  
He brushed Cartman off him, and walked over Kenny to take a better look of his eye. Swollen, bloodshot, maybe infected.

"It doesn't look infected, but it will if you keep rubbing it"  
He puts his hands to his hips, a scowl on his freckled face.  
"What happened?"

Kenny shrugged, trying to look innocent and naive enough to avoid giving them a elaborate explanation, because right know he doesn't have one. At least, not a convincing one.

"I dunno. I think a spider peed on me while I slept or something, because it's been like that ever since this morning"  
Not pretty convincing, but the guys nodded all the same.

"That happened to me once"  
Said Stan, his glare still glued to Kenny's eye. "But my eye got truly infected and I had to go to the hospital"

"Like a dumbass, because I told you to stop rubbing it"  
Said Cartman, still behind Kyle as his human shield that kept him apart from Kenny.  
"It was me the one who told him to stop rubbing it, Cartman"  
Retorted an annoyed Kyle.

"No, I remember you said some shit about it being an African spider of sorts and that just encouraged him to rub it even more!"

"But it was meant to be a warning that he shouldn't be rubbing it in first place!"

"Guys" Kenny lifted a hand to drag their attention apart from the growing argument.  
"You keep using the word "rub" and it's associates, it already started to sound dirty"

The blond smirked a bit at his own words, and Stan snorted a laugh.  
"He's right"

The redhead sighed with exasperation. "Pervert" he mumbled, and walked away from Cartman, to stand beside Stan were he generally had his spot.

"Awww what's wrong, Kahl? Did you not enjoy me rubbing on you?"  
The brunette followed him, leaning closely with a grin and his tone full of intent to tease Kyle.  
"Or you prefer Kenny to rub his infected eye on you? Or you'd rather stay here and rub against Stan?"

Both Stan and Kenny tried to held back their laughter, but dammit it was hard. Kyle would also kick their asses hard if they just exploded in laughter right now.

"Screw off, Cartman!"  
He finally snapped, making Cartman cackle.

"Now, you're rubbing too hard on me, jew!"

The redhead gritted his teeth, as the other continued to laugh.  
"Stop it! It doesn't even sound dirty, it sounds...!"  
He growled, closing his eyes and trying to control the rising demon inside him.

"It sounds plainly stupid!"  
Kyle finished, biting on his bottom lip and crossing his arms over his chest, Kenny and Stan finally let go of their laughs, now that Kyle (probably) calmed down slightly and wouldn't devour them for siding with Cartman... For now. The brunette just cackled a bit more and returned to his usual spot as well. That's how things were more often than not, they all fought and argued and generally talked bullshit among themselves, but it was nice bullshit. They could laugh and mock each other, but they still cared about one another and remained as a group. With Kyle and Stan as super best friends, Cartman as the usual "antagonist" being mean and trash talking like always; and Kenny is the usual cool friend that knew a few more things about real life than them, even when Kyle was the smartest. In their childhood, people just though that just like the redhead and the raven; Cartman and Kenny were best friends of sorts, and the blonde himself just shrugged it off because he was not sure. Not after what happened so many years back... With the Bucket of KFC. He couldn't shake it, but anyways he never though Cartman would consider him his best friend. If anything, the fat boy kinda considered Kyle to be his best frenemy; if that term even existed and even when he insisted he didn't want to be associated to a jew.

Then, Butters came in picture and things changed. Butters was kind with Cartman, just like everyone would he gets tired from time to time and snaps, but mostly he was patient enough for Cartman to take him as his sidequick, thing that Kenny used to do. Yet, they aren't best friends and Kenny is perfectly aware of it because Butters considered him his best friend, no matter what. Now, he finally could answer that his best friend is Butters, instead of shrugging the question off. He has to be; after everything they went through together and will continue to.

"It does, but it sounds dirty as well"  
Kenny finished with a chuckle, but then he felt someone tap his shoulder lightly. He though it might have been Stan, but realized it wasn't when he heard the voice.

It was always... That voice.

"A-Are you guys talking about dirty things?"

Last time he though he heard that voice from behind, it was over the building last night. It was Chaos, overhearing his conversation with Kyle. First time he heard that voice from behind, it was Butters worried about him in the hallways, when he cried and cried over the empty bucket of KFC. Kenny still doesn't know why he confused them at times, but sometimes when he heard Chaos' voice he couldn't help but warm up and think of Butters. Maybe because the small villain had grown on him, but right now, it wasn't something good as he turned his head so quickly that he could have broken his neck for all he cared. His expression somber, like Mysterion's serious facade, ready to snap-

But then he couldn't. Not after seeing Butters.

He felt like a dumbass for sometimes confusing his vigilante life with his normal life, but it was something that couldn't be helped. Kyle often scolded him for that, reminding him he was Kenny right now. He was free to be as dumb as he wanted to, there's no need for a mask or a serious tone of voice or a serious facade. Kyle was the only one who knew about both his personas, so all those people that hated Mysterion would seldom cross paths with him during daytime in which he was just Kenny, and if they ever did they'll end forgetting about him as just the boy with orange parka.

Professor Chaos wasn't there. Chaos isn't going to appear right now. It's just Butters, the real Butters, Kenny noticed; and it made his eyes widen. Sky Blue eyes stared at him, no longer half lidded or with dark circles under them, his skin porcelain white and not a sickly pale almost grey, his spiky sunny blond hair shining in the morning light, Chaos' hair is blonde as well but it's different. Mostly because Kenny always caught glimpse of it under the moonlight while Butters' always matched with the sun. There was also the fact that the bandage wrapped around his head was gone, the bruise nowhere to be seen. But... His eyebrows dropped upon seeing Kenny. Of course he saw his serious expression, how couldn't him? The anger of his movements and features was evident, but it isn't directed at him. It was directed at Chaos. That's what kept him so lost in thoughts ever since he stepped out of his home.

"Leo!"  
He immediately shouted with surprise to see the sick boy, and his friends immediately chimed in.

"What?"  
Kyle peeped to see him, surprised as well.  
"Butters!"  
Yet he smiled.

"Butters, we though you died!"  
Cartman was also surprised, but he sounded relieved as well until Kyle elbowed him right in the belly, drawing a pained groan.

"But you're back, after everything!"  
That was Stan, who walked towards the boy to pull him into a bear hug of sorts, lifting him from the ground in the process as he was taller, and dangling him around like a ragdoll. It was comical, as Butters muttered "Whoa, whoa...!" and giggled all the way.

"How are you? You look totally better"  
Said the redhead as Stan put the blonde down. This finally made Kenny snap out of whatever he had and speak up.

"Yeah, you look like you weren't sick in first place"  
Butters smiled at him. At all of them, he always looked so sheepish and bright.

"Thanks, guys; it surely feels like there was no sickness in first place, it's almost crazy!"

It really is. The Butters Kenny saw yesterday and today's Butters are practically opposites, one of them looked so dark and small and this one was as bright as sun itself. The most stunning fact is the missing bruise of his forehead, even when just yesterday the blond admitted that it was still hurting him, this seemed almost like a miracle or some of the weird shit that happens at South Park.

"Yesterday night, I woke up with so much energy that I couldn't help but pace around the room and later the whole hospital. I didn't want to cough or sleep, I just felt a whole lot better than I've felt this past weeks"

He reached out his hand to move away his bangs and fringes of sunny hair, revealing a small band aid on the right side of his forehead, where Kenny was aware the formerly bleeding bruise used to be.

"Mom talked with the Doctor, and when he checked me he said nothing was out of place, he even took away the bandages to see that the bruise on my forehead is so small that it practically vanished!"

He allowed the strands to fall back in their place, smile never leaving his lips.

"When I asked if I could go to school today, they hesitated but agreed because I was really eager to. Besides, they wanted to see if I could pass the day without feeling symptoms"

He finished, leaving his friends in awe at that. Well, it could always have been a one day thing, they reasoned. Except that in this case it was a two weeks and a half thing.

"That's great!"  
Said Stan, smiling as well along Kyle.

"So far you seem really good. Don't push yourself too hard, though"

"Yeah" Said Kenny. "Are you sure you feel okay?"

Butters nodded.  
"Better than okay, you were right that it was getting better"  
Kenny nodded, still a bit unconvinced. Maybe he was really healed, but maybe the illness had ups and downs and this is one of the ups, yet it made Butters happy to be able to be back, even if it's just for today. Kenny would have loved to see him finally cured and bouncing around rather than being miserable in a hospital bed, but what if he wasn't completely cured and this may put some physical strains that would make matters worse? or maybe he was never sick in first place and everything was product of his tired mind after having to manage too lives at once, both of them so different.

Of course his friends noticed his worry, they always noticed. The first one, and to his surprise was Cartman who groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Dammit Kenny, I demand thy to stop being a party pooper!"  
The brunette pointed a finger directly to his face.  
"Respect my authoritha!"

Kyle sighed, more than anyone he knew how Kenny worried sick. Over his sister, over his friends, over Butters.  
"Let's never mind Kenny, we all know he's big, orange teddy bear that's a sucker for his friends and can't help but worry"

He pointed his thumb at the orange clad blonde, using his other hand to ruffle Butters' hair and make him giggle, but still the taller blonde glared at his partner, annoyed.

Hell, the redhead may be such a good partner and chair boy and all, but sometimes he's full of shit.

* * *

 _"That's-"_

 _"Fucked up"_

 _Some of the guys said, yet Kenny couldn't point out which one of them. He just could stare at Butters face as tears rolled down his cheeks, just after he finished telling the story of that time when he went to a dance competition and his shoe just went flying, creating a massive manslaughter, people died one after another like they were dominoes falling. Almost instantly the blonde covered his mouth and more tears escaped, and then more and more and more as he moved his hands to grab fistfuls of his hair, a look of despair on his face._

 _"It is"_  
 _He nodded, mostly to himself as his eyes closed and more tears escaped._  
 _"It is really, really fucked up!"_  
 _Butters rarely cursed, but he couldn't bring himself to care right now. He was too unstable, and the glares his friends are giving him don't make matters better. It's like they didn't know whom they are talking to anymore. Maybe even Butters refused to think they were talking with him anymore, that part of himself that keep all the guilt so deeply buried was complete different from what they've always known._

 _"And there's n-nothing I can do about it, I promised I would never dance ever again but it still can't take back what I did!"_

 _His voice shook. It pained him, heck it even pained the guys and if there were someone else besides them in Butters' house right now, Kenny was sure it could have pained them as well to hear him so distressed._

 _"Why did I insist in first place?!"_  
 _He buried his face on his hands, tugging at his hair and closing his eyes._  
 _"Why did I enter that contest in first place? I just got so stubborn over i-it, and... And...!"_

 _"That's enough"_  
 _They all tore their gazes apart from Butters to look at Kenny instead, who stood from his seat in the floor and just snapped with a voice so firm, that he swore anyone would have understood even with his parka muffling his words. Mostly because he used a serious tone that doesn't match him, but he didn't think about it as he went over to where Butters sat on his bed; body shaking with every sob until Kenny took a hold of his arms, instantly making him look up with puffy, blue eyes._

 _"But he-"_  
 _Cartman tried to point something, probably some sort of Bullshit until the orange clad boy cut in again._

 _"I said that's enough"_  
 _Maybe the guys couldn't completely see Kenny's face, but it wasn't necessary when every word had an intensity that silenced all of them._

 _"Butters" he looked directly into the boy's eyes. "You didn't mean to do it"_  
 _He couldn't deny that what happened was fucked up; a manslaughter is not nice for anyone to see but he knew pretty well that Butters would never mean to do something like that._

 _"But- still...!"_

 _"I know you didn't mean to"_

 _Butters said nothing, and slowly allowed Kenny to pull him into a hug. Maybe Butters screwed up before and never told any of his friends until now, but everyone has their own secrets, we all have our ups and downs, that's why it pissed Kenny off to see the guys treating Butters like he was someone else. Like the mistake he committed so many years back could somehow define him or change who he is. He's still Butters, he'll always be no matter what, sweet and sheepish and beating himself up with guilt for something he never intended to do._

 _"You regret what you did, and that's the only thing that matters"_  
 _He said, his chin resting on Butters' shoulder as the boy's sobs continued but they gradually died down as he leaned into the embrace. Maybe the pain and guilt his friend felt would never go away, maybe he'll never dance freely like he used to; but as long as he feels regret for what he did, that's what really matters. Not what other people think or say, just what he feels._

 _One day Butters will be able to forgive himself, but he'll never forget._

* * *

Kenny stretched his aching back, God it's been a long time since he last stayed awake during the whole class even when he didn't pay attention to what the hell Mr. Garrison was talking about. He just used that time to finish an assignment for the art class. An assignment he wasn't aware about; now he kinda wished he could have attended to at least one of the classes; now that Butters came back he was eager to work on his missed assignments and Kenny had no idea what to tell him; now they'll just appear in the class like morons after being absent from who knows how long. Anyways, that class is such a piece of cake since the teacher loves Butters' pieces and Kenny was good enough. At his own way, of course; Leo told him sometimes that he's really good but Kenny never really took his time to practice like his friend; he just drew whatever that came to his mind.

"You finished it?"  
Said Kyle, taking a seat beside him as mostly everyone in the class wandered away from the classroom to their respective extracurricular activities, just his group remained talking and arguing like always. Kenny nodded, and the redhead peeped over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of the drawing.

"Really, Kenny?" he shook his head, giving an exasperated look. "It looks like a naked woman"

Ken shrugged; yeah, that's what came to his mind after all.

"What?"  
Not soon after Cartman was looking at it as well, Stan with him. Curiosity got the best of them, Butters would have wanted to see it too but he got ahead to talk with the art class teacher.  
"Nah, it doesn't. You're just confused because you haven't seen a naked chick before, jew"

Kyle frowned immediately. Here they go again. Just when Kenny though he and the redhead could talk about yesterday; maybe Kyle didn't show it because he was focused in how Butters returned and all, but Kenny knows him enough to understand that he had been waiting for a chance to talk with him and ask about what happened. What's the blond supposed to tell him? He can't remember that Kenny died, and even if he recounted how Chaos attacked him the redhead will just scold him for over thinking this; they both know that Chaos is not a threat, yet Ken lived in flesh and bone what the small villain or his doppelganger or whoever it was is capable of doing. But Kyle would never believe that, right? This is all because of his damned immortality.

"Like you have seen one before, fatass"  
Indignation immediately litted the Brunette's face.

"Just so you know, I have! Heidi once stripped for me at my place. I even have it recorded"

"No way" now Stan looked creeped out, who could blame him? If Cartman ever had material of that sorts of someone he's probably going to use it for blackmail or something of his own benefit.  
"That's messed up, I doubt she would let you have something like that"

"You're just jealous because Wendy hasn't stripped for you"

And they continued on and on with Stan clarifying that he and Wendy weren't dating anymore. At least not this week anymore, heaven knows they could go back at any moment.

Kyle took this opportunity to talk with Kenny in a hushed tone, he didn't want Stan or Cartman to hear since sometimes both of them could get really mad at they for spending these last months together, working in cleaning the city. Kenny couldn't blame them, the fat boy needs his rival and the raven his best friend.

"Hey, what happened yesterday? I think I fell asleep because of the damned constitution"  
He yawned; for what Kenny could understand Kyle most likely slept on top of that oversized book. Not comfortable at all, dude.

"The usual, some rapists and-"  
He stopped, just about to say Chaos but the words died down. He didn't want to mention Chaos. He doesn't want to think about it right now, not when he's about to have art classes with Butters.  
"...And the usual shit"

"The usual shit"  
The redhead repeated, and Kenny could see that he wasn't convinced.  
"The usual shit includes a psycho injecting poison in your eye? Because it looks like so"

At the sudden mention of it, he felt the urge to rub at his puffy eye once again. He didn't, though; if it gets infected Karen would worry when she comes back after finishing her project.  
"One of the tugs tried to sting my eye with some sort of stick"  
Well, it was part of the truth. Except that it wasn't a tug, it was a boy, and he used a pencil to be more exact, and he didn't try, he actually managed to Pierce his eye. But oh, whatever.

"Did you let your guard down?"  
Kyle seemed a bit weirded out, knowing that Mysterion never lets his guard down; but Kenny couldn't help but curse internally because the redhead was right; he actually let his guard down when Professor Chaos pulled out that dirty trick. Dammit, how Kyle looked through him- not only him, the redhead managed to look through anyone with so much ease, it's like he was born for it. Like Kenny was born to be immortal.

"No" the blond cut in, quickly and crossing his arms over his chest. Even when Kyle was right he felt the surge to defend Mysterion; the whole vigilante thing may make him sound like a lunatic for everyone else but for Kenny it meant a lot to be the masked hero, the good things he's accomplished for this town and his sister meant a lot to him.  
"I was focused on saving the girl they tried to rape, that's all-"

But before he could finish, his partner and chair boy held a hand to gesture him to stop. "It's okay"  
He said in a calm voice that made Kenny relax and drop his hands to his sides again.

"It's okay if you let your guard down, specially during these past few weeks. Heck, I don't even know how you haven't been killed yet!"

Yeah, actually he had been. But let's allow him to believe that.

"I think you should take this night off, maybe get that eye checked or something; you could even go and goof off with Butters today"

Of course he would love to goof off with Butters, but Mysterion still has a duty and besides the smaller blond still needs to rest.  
"Nah" Kenny said, dragging the 'A' to give the impression that he wasn't really tired even when he actually is.

"You should, though; these two are going to die if you leave them alone tonight, too"  
the orange clad pointed, turning his head to look at Stan and Cartman, still talking some Bullshit about their exes. Kyle sighed, this time around he's the one that must admit that Kenny's right. Sweet, sweet victory over the smart-ass.

"Maybe, but since I've been helping you this past few days, I should help you this whole week, too"  
Kyle rested his head over the desk, his blond friend couldn't blame him for being so tired; he had like, three extracurricular classes and practically tutored him, Stan, Cartman and Butters; his free time was spent reading some books that are totally foreign to most adults, now his nights were spent guiding Kenny through the earphone and telling him were to find crime and stop it, his eyes glued to South park's map at the computer, the news playing at the TV and who knows what else. Being Kyle is not easy shit.

"Anyways, when you started to freak out about Butters' illness Stan and I realized we could do nothing to help you. Yet, I found out I could at least do this and keep your stubborn ass from killing yourself"

He closed his eyes, and suddenly Kenny's victory over South Park smart-ass jew didn't feel so sweet anymore. Dammit, why the hell does he have to be so smart, and stubborn and understanding and caring? Now Kenny felt bad that he dragged his friend to this; he just felt so useless that there was nothing he could do to help Butters the past few days that he just put on the mask and started to jump from roof to roof, trying to be of use because just like Kyle said he had a stubborn ass. Unbeknownst to Kenny, the worry Kyle felt practically dragged him to help every night even when he was so damn tired, maybe if Stan knew of his vigilante persona as well he could be there beside the redhead, but since he doesn't know he just can't help because Kenny can't pull his shit together to tell him, or the rest of his friends for the matter.

"Thanks, Kyle. But take tonight off; anyways I'll be helping Karen with something and probably won't have time to patrol"  
He lightly patted the top of Kyle's ushanka, and the redhead grinned knowing that he won this argument. He always wins these arguments against Kenny.

"Why does it sound like a lie?"  
asked the Jewish boy before being cut off.

"Kaaaaahl!"  
Called out Cartman before Kenny could say anything else, the raven and him now focused on them once again.

"Are you coming to watch Heidi's video or what? I know you always looked her way with lustful eyes"  
The redhead rolled his eyes as he lifted his head from the desk to glare at Cartman and his best friend.

"Like hell I did; she was nice and all but if she really was your girlfriend then something must be really wrong with her"

Kenny just rolled his eyes at the growing argument; at least now Kyle has something entertaining to do for the rest of the day, the blond though as he gathered his few belongings to head towards the art class. Butters must be waiting to see his work; the "Naked woman" even when the first thing that came to Kenny's mind when he started to draw was a fish of sorts he saw on TV the other day, but tweaking a bit the details it ended looking like that. He was proud, though, People generally got creepied when he draws something bloody or gore even when it's actually meant to be funny.

Making his way down the hallways, he eventually reached the classroom just to find that the class already started. Oh, well. But oddly enough, Butters was still in front of the door, talking with a small, black clad figure.

"Firkle?"  
Kenny came closer, weirded out; and almost instantly the goth kid let out a sound akin to a hiss.

"McCormick"  
He said with his annoyed tone, before walking away without sparing another word to him or Butters.

"What was that?"  
The orange clad blond pointed the direction the small goth took to leave, just for Butters to shrug with a confused look, probably weirded out as well.

"I dunno. He was asking about my illness"  
Butters rubbed his knuckles, nervous. Kenny couldn't blame him, the goth guys were creepy and created problems wherever they went- well, that sounds pretty much what the blond and his group of friends generally do, but whatever. Besides how that kid found out about Butters' illness?

"Weird"  
He shrugged his shoulders to his ears, trying to brush it off and get Butters to not dwell on it.  
"Let's go"  
He gestured the small blond to follow him inside the classroom. Ah, the scent of fresh paint in the air and people trying to stain each other with their soaked brushes while the sexy teacher just glared at her phone, Kenny couldn't help but miss it, and Butters apparently did as well.

Soon after, the teacher finally set her phone down and tried to organize the class, assigning them to work in pairs and try to paint each other. Kenny loved this kind of activities, even when he was often paired with one of the girls and ended up painting a really obscene and sexy version of them, which ended in they feeling flattered or calling him a pervert. Usually the last one. Today, though, they could chose their partners and of course he and Butters took this opportunity. It wasn't quite fair, though; Butters has drawn him and the rest of his friends like thousand times before, he'll end up making a fucking work of art. Yet it didn't bother Kenny, if anything he enjoyed how the smaller boy's expression shifted whenever he painted; from a serious and focused one he usually never had to a face that seemed to be taken from a cartoon, sticking out his tongue and every so often nodding to himself.

"The teacher said you haven't been coming lately"  
Snapping Kenny out of his trance in which he had no idea how to start the painting, Kenny moved slightly his head from the still blank canvas in front of him to look at Butters, who's already working on his as he sat across Kenny without taking his eyes from his own painting.

"She started to fear you decided that you don't like drawing anymore"  
Butters' eyebrows dropped a bit; he enjoyed that his orange clad friend and him could pretend to be artists during this time, Kenny knew he liked to have someone to understand his love for art, and let's just admit it; he loved receiving praises from Kenny whenever he finished one of his pieces. He's never received praises from his parents for his art, so no one could really blame him. Yet, the though that Kenny could just drop and leave him in the class by himself seemed to bother him. Of course other people and even the teacher admired his work, but it wasn't the same when not even one of his usual friends isn't around.

"She worries too much"  
Kenny tried to brush it off; to put Butters' worries at rest.  
"You know I couldn't just leave my Buttercup alone the whole afternoon"

That immediately made Butters stop; words sinking in as he realized why Kenny was absent in first place. As Kenny moved a bit to see his face behind the canvas, he couldn't help but chuckle at how his friend's blue eyes widened and a soft pink tainted his cheeks. He looked at lost of words and adorable; Kenny was the only one capable of igniting that reaction from him.

"...Could I?"  
The orange clad half lidded his eyes, and Butters finally smiled brightly and continued to work on his canvas, still a bit embarrassed.

"Thanks, Kenny"

"You're welcome"

With that, they both continued to work.

"I tried to call you to let you know I was feeling better today, but your mother told me you were still asleep"

Ah. So, it wasn't Kyle the one who called, after all. Just that excited was Butters to return and leave his boring hospital bed.

"I just couldn't wait to tell you and the guys!"

Kenny smiled, damn right he himself couldn't wait the class to end and go see how Leo was doing, the same way Butters couldn't wait to announce he was better. That must be why he insisted so much in attending today, and it's actually doing him real good to return.

"Neither could we wait to see you getting better, Leo"

He glanced at Butters again.

"Now tell me, do you want me doing some sexy pose for you to paint?"

The boy giggled, never taking his eyes from his canvas; not even when he soaked his brush in another color. Kenny remembers that a few years back Butters did that yet generally ended picking the wrong color and panicking when the whole painting ended messed up beyond repair; now it came as something natural as he was used to pick colors without prying his eyes away from the work at hand. The portraits always ended really good, yet for all the taller blond knew Butters never once got away with the messed up paintings; they may be screwed up but there were still some things he liked about them, he just couldn't bring himself to throw them away.

"Nah, I already know all your poses, Kenny. You know I have photographic memory like Iron Man!"

Replied the boy dressed in turquoise, and damn he was right about that.

* * *

 _"Kenny, you have to do Something!"_

 _Stan shouted as he, Kyle and Cartman approached Kenny like psychos, and the orange parka boy had no idea what the fuck they were talking about._

 _"What?"_

 _"It's Butters, Kenny"_  
 _Said Kyle, worry evident on his eyes._  
 _"He'll be leaving for Hawaii this afternoon. We'll probably never see him again"_

 _His eyes widened. The fuck? Butters wouldn't leave; not like that without saying a word. That's not how Leo is._

 _"According to that jackass you're his only friend, so you have to tell him something!"_  
 _Cartman wasn't as worried as Stan and Kyle, but Kenny could see that at some extent he's eager for someone to do something- anything._

 _"He won't listen to us, he's angered and spitting insults to anyone who gets close"_  
 _Explained Stan._

 _"Yes, he's full of a anger and bullshit for some reason; that's why his parents are taking him to Hawaii"_  
 _Continued the redhead, and Kenny couldn't help but feel skeptical. Butters rarely cursed if really necessary, let alone insult someone, specially his friends whom he often hangs out with it ever since they finally decided to let him in the group from time to time. It seemed hard to believe- yet, Kenny knew that when the small blond had the intent to swear he generally used very strong words, and when he had the intent to hurt someone he could even get physical. As small as he was, they all remember that time in which he accidently kicked his own father in the balls and made him whine in pain miserably._

 _"He doesn't seem like himself anymore, it's like he's a demon or something"_  
 _Piped in Cartman, probably exaggerating. It couldn't be that bad, could it?_

 _Or so he thought, when they made their way to the airport and caught Butters waiting for his parents that were in the line, waiting to get the tickets. The small blond sat with his packages, and Kenny could definitely tell that something was wrong. If people bumped on him for accident he may immediately hiss and flip them off with an angered face, but still the orange clad blonde tried to get close and tap lightly his shoulder to get his attention; the guys following not so closely but still keeping their eyes glued to the situation at hand._

 _Kenny could see how Butters turned around, eyebrows furrowed in anger and his face full of killing intent, ready to spit venom to whoever dared to get close, it made the usually bright boy look darker; like a dark shadow loomed over him and obscured his features. He relaxed slightly when he saw Kenny, but the shade still remained._

 _"Kenny"_  
 _He muttered, his voice didn't sound angered right now, though._

 _"Butters, the guys told me you're leaving!"_  
 _At the sole mention of them, his eyebrows arched again, yet it didn't intimidate Ken as he could tell the anger wasn't directed at him._

 _"Pussies" muttered the spiky haired blond. "It'll be just for a few days, they just talk too much bullshit about me"_

 _He sighed, poison dripping from every word. "Just because I said the truth to their faces, but I couldn't just shut it anymore! They're so happy-go-lucky and think they're nice when they're bags of shit that always end screwing up this damn town!"_

 _The immortal didn't say a word, just stared at how Butters grits his teeth in anger, his scowl deepening if that's possible._

 _"If everything is fucked up, it's because of them! Stan thinks he's so great with that pretty girlfriend of his- I am sure they have never fucked! And there's Kyle who thinks he can outsmart everyone but he doesn't know shit about the real world!"_

 _The small boy grabbed handfuls of his sunny blond hair, probably tugging at his follicles hardly to the point of forcefully tearing them from his scalp; but either it doesn't hurt that much or probably he just doesn't give a shit anymore._

 _"And of course there's Eric fucking Cartman; that selfish son of a bitch that knows nothing more than to build up his ego to the point it's as big as his ass!"_

 _Well, that was cruel. Cartman is most likely whining about it to Kyle and Stan from their far away spot, as they watched how Kenny could say nothing else. Just think that the guys were right._

 _This is not Butters. Not even a demon could make the boy's face wrinkle and scrunch with so much anger, hatred and venom, not even a demon could take the light away from Butters and cloak him with the darkness of a big, black cloud of hate. This is just... A carcass. A carcass full of anger that wore Butters' face._

 _"They're worthless"_  
 _The boy spat out at least, releasing his hair._  
 _"You're the only real friend and really worthy person there is, Kenny"_

 _The taller blond snapped from his thoughs when he felt how Butters touched his gloved hand, and to his surprise the pissed off boy stared back at him with a smile._

 _"And yet they still can't see your real worth"_

 _Kenny still couldn't find his voice, but he noticed that these words were genuine. That must mean that carcass is not completely devoid of anything but negative feels, Butters is still inside. Deep down, but he's there._

* * *

It was a little late when they left school, Butters wasn't able to finish his oh so detailed painting while Kenny couldn't even bring himself to start his, he was pretty rusty. They meet with the rest of their group as Cartman whined all the way that Kyle cheated at the debate class while the redhead just felt proud of himself, he wasn't enjoying to have the brunette complaining and whining but it was worth his victory.

"Cut it out Cartman, weren't you going to show us that video of Heidi you're so proud of?"  
Asked Stan in hopes of giving Cartman something else to focus on as they walked past the school gates.

"Still with that?" asked Kyle, rolling his eyes and making an exasperated noise. "You're aware it must be some fake bullshit? He might have dressed his hand as Heidi and put it to dance like he did that time when he said it was Jennifer Lopez"

Immediately Cartman groaned, loudly, throwing his head back.  
"Why do you have to remind me that, fucking jew?"

"Yeah, none of us want to remember that"  
Seconded Kenny, and then leaned to Butters in order to whisper not so quietly;  
"He gave a famous dude a blowjob with his hand"

This made Leo's eyes wide, his mouth scrunch in disgust.  
"Really?!"

Cartman groaned again.  
"Shut the hell up, you poor"  
Then, he pointed at the redhead who didn't even flinch or change his exasperated expression.

"And this is no bullshit; you'll see it and then you'll beg for me to teach you how to get a girlfriend so you can stop practicing your make out with Stan"

"The fuck Cartman-?!"  
He snapped angrily, but it went to deaf ears as the brunette walked far ahead, too full of himself and determined.

"Let's just follow him, maybe his mom could make us some cookies. I'm hungry"  
Said Stan, putting an arm around Kyle's shoulders to drag him forward despite his angry whines; he's way stronger than his redhead bestie so it was easy doing.

"Wha- Wait, I never agreed to this!"  
But before he could say anything, the raven was already lifting him from the ground and charging with him like a potato bag, ignoring the angry shouts.

"Put me down, dammit!"

"We'll see you guys tomorrow"

Stan waved at both blondes with a smile, as he walked away still charging with the stubborn redhead. Well, if Kyle doesn't spend time with his best friend by his own means, then Stan will make him. Like it or not. It sounded fair to Kenny.

"Staaaaaaaanley!"

Yelled the Jewish boy all the way, startling some other students but they ultimately shrugged it off as this is Stan and Kyle we're talking about, this is relatively normal in comparison to other antics they have pulled before.

Kenny couldn't help but grin to himself at the sigh. "Well, lovely life for these two"  
Muttered him, placing his hands on his hips before he heard the melodic voice he recognized instantly.

"Kenny! Butters!"  
Both boys turned to see Karen running towards them, her arms opened as she made her way with a wide smile to hug them both at the same time, how she managed to stretch herself so much Kenny had no idea but nevertheless he hugged back his little bird.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Butters!"  
Exclaimed the girl after she let go of the hug to take a better look of Leo's face.  
"You look so sunny!"  
Butters smiled sheepishly and rubbed his knuckles. Fuck, Kenny couldn't deny that both his sister and his Butters were so Damn adorable.

"You also look sunny, Karen!"  
He replied as Kenny patted his sister's head.

"Guess the project wasn't that boring after all"  
He said with a smile, but she huffed with a small pout.  
"It was long ass and boring like you have no idea. Tricia and I finished it, though. But Firkle and Ike weren't so lucky"

The orange clad nodded with a proud smile. "Nice! Let's keep this from mom, but I'll get you that tooth-rotting thingies you like so much"

The girl's eyes widened and practically sparkled with stars as she squealed in glee. Since Butters got better, he could go back to his part time works and gain some bucks to keep his sister happy. With that look she's giving, it's totally worth it.

"Yay!"  
She shouted and bounced around.

"But first let's take Leo to his house, shall we?"  
Yet, Butters immediately failed his arms in front of himself, seeming a bit nervous.

"No- I mean, you don't have to! Dad is coming to pick me up"

Both McCormicks nodded, a bit deflated that the boy isn't joining them.

"Well"  
Kenny reached out to pick his sister up and sit her over his shoulders, the girl wrapping her arms around her brother's head to steady herself. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Butterscotch"  
He smiled at the boy, Karen did as well.  
"If you feel weird or anything don't hesitate in saying something, right?"

He turned around to leave as Butters nodded, and they waved at each other.

"Bye, Butters!"  
Both siblings said as they walked away, Karen giggling all the way.

"Let's go towards the cavities!"  
Said the blonde girl as she pointed forwards, leading her brother to where they'll buy the sugary cereal she likes so much; the thing had so many chemicals that it for sure would make every tooth decay if they eat it twice; Kenny had to remind Karen to brush her teeth before going to sleep.

* * *

11:55 pm. Karen fell asleep several hours ago, after eating cereal and chatting along to Kenny and her mom about the long project, and how Tricia told her that Tweek and Craig haven't even kissed yet, a surprise for sure because they've been together for like, six years? Guess that's what's called slow burn. Carol fell asleep, too and Kenny was left fidgeting with his phone, not really sleepy. Maybe today's emotions washed away his tiredness, giving him a rush of energy he doesn't know how to get away with. Suddenly, the phone vibrated on his lap. It was a message... From Kyle. Dammit, and here Kenny though the redhead must be asleep by now after goofing off with Stan and Cartman the whole evening.

 _Kyle B: U still up?_

 _Kyle B: Not jumping rooftops 2nite, I hope?_

He wasn't planning to- Ah, screw off. Yes, he was planning to go on patrol; but he didn't! Not until now, that's it.

 _Kenny M: Naaaaah_

 _Kenny M: Shouldn't u be sleeping?_

Before tipping his answer, it didn't take long for the redhead to respond.

 _Kyle B: I was_

 _Kyle B: I woke when I noticed the idiot of Stan fell asleep over me_

 _Kyle B: hes crushing me, cant breathe over here_

 _Kyle B: 0_0_

Kenny sighed, the two always fell asleep on top of each other ever since they were in kindergarten; they won't stop even now that Stan is damned heavy due to his training with the football team. Despite that, he's still thin so for all he knew it wouldn't kill Kyle.

 _Kenny M: Well, you chose him_

 _Kyle B: Shut up who the hell asked u_

Kenny chuckled at that, even through the message he could feel how the redhead snapped when he insinuated something between the raven and him. But hell, they make it so easy.

 _Kyle B: Cant put up with ur annoying ass. I'll go back to sleep_

 _Kyle B: And u'd better stay out of trouble_

 _Kenny M: Will do, mom_

After that, Kyle probably went back to sleep or struggle under Stan. Heck, that sounded dirty and now Kenny couldn't help but wonder in which position they ended. But unlike they, he wasn't going to be sleeping anytime soon.

Because he's Kenny stubborn-ass McCormick, who can keep him from going to give some bad guys a spoonful of their own medicine? He would just have to come back before the sun rises, until then there's so much time to dance around with the criminals. So, after dressing up with his Mysterion costume he allowed the moonlight guide his steps, in the end that's the best light he had since South Park's streets are so dimly lit that it's almost as if they were non-existent in first place. Yet, a bigger light in the sky caught his attention quickly.

A fiery, red light along ashes that fell along the snow.

"Shit"  
He muttered and ran, eventually he heard screams getting louder and the roar of the flames that devoured a building, most likely an apartment complex as most people already escaped and stared in horror at the place they used to call home, some of them tried to reach inside desperately but the authorities, a single police car kept them from doing so.

"The firefighters are coming, so please remain calm folks!"  
He shouted over a megaphone, but it was futile as people continued to panic and cry.

"My daughter!"  
Said a woman, grabbing her head in despair. "S-She has to be still inside! You must save her!"  
She practically begged, but the officer with the megaphone shook his head.

"Everyone's been evacuated, miss. Go look for your daughter in the crowd"

Shitty, good for nothing cops, they won't be lifting a finger for all Kenny cared about, no matter how much people beg. Mysterion tried to push away his anger, as he made his way through the crowd that gasped his name and pass the officer.

"M-Mysterion!"  
He was infamous among the cops since his good deeds made they look like the idiots they really are, but it doesn't matter as long as he gets to help people.

"I'll look for her"  
The blond vigilante wasn't sure if people heard him mutter with his deep voice, but he wasn't about to turn away once he dived into the burning apartment complex, pulling a portion of his hood over his mouth and nose to try and not breathe the fire and smoke.

How the stairs still remained, he had no idea but when he entered and heard a child's cry, nothing else mattered. The windows shattered one after another as the vigilante ran as fast as he could to avoid falling debris and spontaneous surges of fire, the stairs croaked under him and they might as well have fallen; he would have to find another way to get out once he finds the trapped girl.

Adrenaline still rushing through his veins, he still had no idea where to look for; looking around every room looked exactly the same as the fire engulfed them, but suddenly a piece of burning debris almost fell over the vigilante, he had to jump out of the way, the smoke already setting around him and making him cough from his spot on the floor. Then the cry could be heard once more. This time, more clearly.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

It sounded like a small girl. A small girl will never get hurt, not under Mysterion's watch. That gave him enough resolution to push himself from the floor and ignore his smoke filled lungs and foggy mind.

The cries sounded more and more close, until he reached the door in the end of the hallway and entered. Fire raging loudly and so much debris fell, it was difficult and dangerous to even be here.

Dammit, it always has to be the last door, hasn't it?

"Where-"  
Yet he stopped on his track when a door came to his view. A door that didn't seem damaged at all; probably a closet of cleaning supplies. Reaching to open it, there it was the small, sobbing girl with red hair. He thanked whatever God for that.

"Come out, we have to leave"  
Firm but calm and still tender, that's how Mysterion always is, and it reassured the girl enough to immediately run to the vigilantes' arms as he used his cape to cover her face and protect her tiny body from the fire. With some luck, the trek out will be faster.

He didn't waste another minute in running and avoiding as much debris as he could, keeping the girl curled to his chest as she sobbed and grabbed handfuls of his outfit, until they made it to the already crumbled staircase. Shit, it was a long jump down.

"Don't be scared, this is going to get shaky but I promise it'll only last for a second"

The girl nodded, still covering her face and trusting the vigilante to keep his promise. No matter what, he's going to keep his promise; not even when his vision already started to get blurry. With that said, he prepared and jumped to the first floor, holding tightly the small body against his. If anything happened, that way at least she would be okay.

He impacted with the floor, right on time as an explosion of fire destroyed the spot they just were. Landing on his knees, he pushed himself up once again to finally leave the goddamned building. But in doing so, he froze at what he saw.

As the fire and debris from the previous explosion faded a bit, still in the middle of the roaring flames of the second floor a figure stood, watching down at him. It was professor Chaos.

"What-"

 _-The fuck is he doing here?!_ He wanted to say as his mouth was left open with the question stuck in his throat, but stopped as even in the midst of the fire he could perfectly make out Chaos' face. He was grinning. Grinning at Mysterion, grinning with the same wicked smirk the vigilante swore the small villain had when he impaled his eye, even when he couldn't see it back then he pictured the villain smiling at him exactly like that; as if he was glad of something.

"Chaos!"  
He shouted, whatever the hell he's doing here he must leave before things get even worse. But, as soon as the words came out, the boy turned around and ran, grin never leaving his face and teal cape flowing behind him, he ran further into the fire.

For a moment, he lifted his arm towards Chaos as if somehow he could reach out to stop him; to save him.

* * *

He couldn't sleep. The rest of the night, the morning, he couldn't find it on himself, not even after he almost passed out after inhaling so much smoke. After he returned the girl to her mom and received their most solemn thanks, he still couldn't shake what he saw. The building continued to burn and burn, to the point there wasn't even a doorframe or window to enter from; Mysterion could only watch from afar how the firefighters struggled to put down the massive fire. The next hours were spent pacing around the city, then pacing around his bedroom, he wondered if that's how Butters felt when he finally got his energies back, but on Kenny's case he just got a whole lot of question to dwell on.

Was that Professor Chaos? Or his doppelganger? Is there a doppelganger at all? Or is he just schizophrenic or bipolar or some weird shit? Maybe everything is on Kenny's mind after his brain got clouded with smoke, but it still seemed so real. He could swear it was real, The blonde could still remember that grin and those wide, mismatched blue eyes holding his gaze but still refusing to acknowledge him even after he tried to call out. This is sure driving him insane, after taking a hasty shower of cold water to wash away the smell of smoke from his hair and body, he left for school first thing in the morning after leaving Karen and his mother to breakfast and making some excuse that he had to meet with the guys. The girls just waved at him, he really REALLY needs to talk with someone about this.

With Kyle, of course. But he'll try to brush it off and say that he's obsessed over Chaos or something; he won't understand a thing if Kenny doesn't tell the whole story. _Shit._

Arriving the school and heading the classroom, some people were already there, among them his friends. If they all spent the night at Cartman's, the redhead most likely forced them up early. He's such a sucker for school, but Kenny was glad they were there.

"Dammit Stan" moaned Kyle, rubbing his eyes "Next time you sleep over me I'll kick you in the balls, I don't care how much you whine about it"

Stan, who sat beside him let out a small gasp of indignation, just when Kenny approached them.  
"Oh, hi Ken-"  
The raven almost said, but to his and Kyle's surprise, the blond said nothing but grabbed Kyle's ushanka and took off with it, letting loose the dark red curls much to the jew's displeasure.

"Kenny, what the Fuck?!"  
Rising from his seat as fast as his body allowed him to, Kyle ran after him outside the classroom where Kenny hoped they could talk without anyone overhearing. Even when the immortal knew that this was some sort of ritual to summon the devil; no one but Stan touches his ushanka. And even so the raven might as well have a good reason to do it, they all knew how ashamed is Kyle of his messy locks.

Ken stopped, and his friend ripped the ushanka from his hands to adjust it over his head again; All the while fuming with anger.

"Never. Do. That. Again. Understood?"

The blond nodded quickly, but grabbed Kyle's arm to keep him from returning to the classroom.

"I know, I know; but listen and try not to get angry"  
The redhead sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What did you do this time?"

Kenny sighed, maybe this was a bad idea. But then again, Kyle always heard him out no matter what.

"Well, you heard there was a fire yesterday night?"  
Kyle's emerald green eyes widened a bit, but he didn't flinch.

"And you started it?"  
He asked, unbelieving. Of course he heard about it in the morning news, yet he had no clear details.

"Of course not, dumb"  
Answered Kenny, putting his hands on his hips. The redhead's gaze relaxed a bit and nodded, almost like a proud mother would.

"Okay, go ahead"

Letting his hands fall to his sides again, he sighed and continued. "I know you said I should take the night off, but I just couldn't so somehow I ended diving in the fire to save a little girl"

At this, the emerald eyed boy sighed but didn't look that much upset as Kenny expected him to be.

"Anyways I had a feeling you'd do that, continue"  
Kenny nodded and did as told.

"But just when I was about to leave I saw him, I saw Professor Chaos in the midst of the fire, Kyle"

The redhead blinked a few times and tilted his head to one side, probably weirded out.  
"That brat?"

"Yeah, he was looking at me and smiling like a creep, but when I tried to call out... He ran further in the fire"  
The blond finished, tucking his hands in the pockets of his parka and trying to look away. The part that he's worried about the boy was left unsaid, but Kyle understood it.

"It's weird, I'm sure he was already in the building when I came in"  
His voice sounded small, more to himself than for his friend, yet it made Kyle let out a confused noise.

"And you think he may have started the fire?"  
Kenny had been trying to avoid asking himself that question because he was already starting to consider it; it's said that whenever a lunatic sets something on fire they usually stay to admire their work and usually get caught in the midst of it. That would explain the smile, but for all he knew Chaos isn't a lunatic, a brat at times but he always seemed so small and harmless despite the things he's tried to do.

"I don't know, You remember that he once tried to blow up an hospital?"  
Ken shrugged, still when Chaos tried that and it surprised him, that never made Mysterion look at him like a real villain.

"But he didn't, in the end. You stopped him"  
Countered Kyle, looking directly at him even when Kenny refused to stare back, yet he had to when Kyle put a hand over his shoulder that instantly made him focus.

"Kenny, Is this about last time you meet him?"

The blond's deep blue eyes widened at the mention of the last time.

Last time he got impaled by the boy he though harmless. By the boy he grew up to see with somehow fond eyes.

"After you punched him and he fell and stuff?"

But Kyle couldn't remember that. He aparted his gaze once more.

"This has nothing to do with that"

"It has" Said the Jewish boy, his voice firm. "Ever since that you've fussing about how he might have injured himself further than we though, and he hasn't appeared to ease your worries. Be honest with yourself, you're worried about him"

Silence. But it practically confirmed what Kyle just said; even when Kenny doesn't want to admit that Mysterion became fond of his arch villain, that doesn't mean it's not true. He was human, too; he had the right to worry and care and feel tired as well.

"I really can't assure you that he's alright after he fell from that building, I wish I could because that would make you stop worrying and seeing him everywhere like a ghost; but I can tell you that he'll come back. He always comes back"

Slowly, Kenny finally nodded. He couldn't shake off what he saw, and he couldn't start talking about Chaos piercing his eye, but he'll leave things at that since Kyle spoke with the truth, he was worried. Worried that someone else might have replaced Chaos, worried that he was in the midst of the roaring fire, worried that he might end up losing the boy he never realized he cared about so much.

"Good" the redhead finally smiled and lightly punched his blond partner in the arm, trying to cheer him up. "And when he comes back, you two will finally make out like you've been wanting to"

Said Kyle, his voice full of intent to tease Kenny the rest of the day with that; probably as revenge for taking his ushanka. Ken scoffed loudly as they both re-entered the classroom, where Stan looked already annoyed of waiting for his bestie and Cartman scanned them with his eyes like that way he could figure out what they just talked about.

"Like hell we would"  
Muttered Kenny, and Kyle snorted a laugh while he took his seat beside Stan again, the raven arching an eyebrow. Not soon after, more people started to arrive, among them Butters.

He looked fine, but just as he put his backpack down he started to cough. Kenny almost instantly got close to rub small circles over his back, as the coughing fit lasted a few seconds before dying down. Despite everything, he didn't spit blood like before; this must be some sort of small sequel.

"You okay, buddy?"  
Butters nodded, regaining his breath.

"Yeah, it's just- I think something got caught in my throat"  
He explained, not quite looking at Kenny.

* * *

Mysterion sat on top of a tall building, like he generally does; legs dangling over the edge. Not quite focusing, letting his thoughts wander and thinking in what Kyle said. He really was worrying too much, but it was justified. He had a lot of questions, but they were justified as well. If only he could somehow answer one of them- No, an answered question would meant more and more to come, and that'd be ten times worse.

Throwing back his head with a sigh, he allowed his body to rest over the surface for at least a moment. The city bellow was dark and quiet, maybe too quiet for South Park but that's because the criminals probably fear him by now. Even with this quietness, his mind still buzzed with thoughs; as his deep blue gaze landed on the sky above. Stars were pretty bright even for a polluted town as South Park, he seldom noticed this because his gaze usually focused in the delinquency bellow, but now he wasn't focused in anything. Couldn't bring himself to.

"Chaos... what are you doing?"  
He asked with his voice just above a whisper, like someone could give him the answers of what the villain wannabe is settled to do.  
"Why are doing it...?"  
His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, all the burden of not having slept properly already taking it's toll on him; sleeping over the desk with Mr. Garrison's voice as background noise didn't count.

"...Where are you?"

He finished, and opened his eyes again to continue staring at the carpet of lights above him. That's it, until a small face peeped in; wearing an helmet and looking at the vigilante directly in the eye with his sky blue mismatched ones. A expression of curiosity on his face.

"I'm here"

Chaos said, matter-of-factly as Mysterion's eyes widened a bit upon seeing him. At least, he got one of his questions answered tonight.


	4. Chapter 4: Half lit moon

And I ask myself, why this thingies keep getting longer and longer? Are they that good? Do I ramble too much? Maybe... It's because of all the flashbacks?!

Whatever the reason is, I hope you like this chappy and thanks for your support! I also hope you like the cover image 3 I'll be doing more South park fanart in the future, so if you're interested look for me as M1LI/Seven Alice in deviantart ;)

* * *

 _"This got to be a joke"_

 _Muttered the vigilante to himself, arms crossed as he stared down at the small cell in the deeps of Coon's basement; a sign that read "Coon's holding cell" hung from the cage, along with a lame Cartoon version of what's supposed to be Coon's eyes. Yet, what really caught his eye was the small boy curled into a ball and trapped in said cellar; wide blue eyes stared up at him in surprise. Professors Chaos, just how long he's been down there? Mysterion knows the boy stopped wreaking havoc a few weeks ago, but he had no idea they would cross paths here, when he came to meet Coon and probably kick his ass._

 _"M-Mysterion!"_  
 _The vigilante watched how the boy immediately stood after fully registering his presence, yet in doing so he ended bumping his head with the ceiling of the small cellar; unfortunate for him that his helmet doesn't cover his head. Chaos Muttered a pained sound while rubbing the sore spot, but didn't take his eyes off the hero in front of him._  
 _"W-What are you doing here?"_

 _"I should ask you the same"_  
 _Replied the purple robed vigilante with a quirked brow, the boy in the cell growing anxious with the cold glare as he tried to come up with a response._

 _"T-They caught me"_  
 _Finally said Chaos, trying to avoid Mysterion's disapproving stare. Of course they did, Chaos' been goofing around and bothering people in South Park with his not so well though plans, with none else but Mysterion trying to foil his evil plots it was matter of time until people got tired and chose to put his stubborn ass in place; apparently not long after Coon and friends decided to show up the boy disappeared. For Kenny, it was weird that the boy suddenly ditched, yet it was good to spend some (relatively) quiet days as just Kenny, and even when it relieved him at some extent that the small villain didn't kill himself trying to pull on some antic, it was still exasperating to always find him in the less likely place. The boy scowled upon seeing the hero's unimpressed face._  
 _"I left my guard down!"_  
 _He managed out, almost sounding like an angry whimper. He should be frustrated after spending so long time inside that cage._

 _"I gathered that"_  
 _Mysterion just responded and was almost ready to turn around and go look for Coon somewhere else, but suddenly the boy stretched out his hand to try and catch his attention. The blond vigilante stopped in his tracks, not really daring to turn and see him again as he tried to focus in finding Coon and leave the boy for now. If anything, someone should praise Coon and friends for managing to keep the boy in a place for so long._

 _"Wait wait wait wait!"_  
 _The small villain practically begged, voice desperate as he said it so quickly it almost went misunderstood; one of his hands clasping the cell's bars while trying to reach out for Mysterion as much as he could._

 _"M-My telekinetic powers stopped working days ago, so could you please hand me the key?"_  
 _From the corner of his eye, Mysterion could see that sure enough, hanging from a nail in the wall there was the key, not very far away from the cellar. Had Chaos had a long stick of sorts, he could have reached for it on his own._

 _"Ah"_  
 _He said off handedly, eyes landing in the key._  
 _"No" he finished._

 _"Thank- what?!"_  
 _Chaos was just about to smile and thank the hero, but instantly turned to look at him with fearful eyes; was Mysterion that cold to just leave him in there to rot? Apparently so, because he's about to step away again._

 _"W-Wait! Aren't you supposed to be the nice hero who f-forgives his enemies and helps anyone in danger?!"_  
 _The small villain tried to press, desperate to get a reaction of sorts from the vigilante, the latter wanted to point out so badly that Chaos wasn't in immediate danger but he had to be brief. The boy may be clumsy but he knows his game, if he catches Mysterion in one of their hero-villain monologues he would eventually convince him to open the goddamned gate and let him go to mess around like always. No, he had to remind himself that Chaos got in that situation by his own and deserved someone to keep his stubborn ass on a place._

 _"I'm not a hero, I'm a vigilante. There's a difference"_  
 _Well, to be honest, Chaos should have expected him to say that. He says it often, just to remind people he's not afraid of kicking someone's ass if needed. Right now, he was about to kick Coon's ass for trying so hard to taint the reputation of every super hero or vigilante. There's no way in hell Mysterion is going to allow that._  
 _"A hero would appear in public to sign autographs or something, a hero would use an outfit with bright colors to impress people"_  
 _He lifted a portion of his cape to emphasize his point._  
 _"I use grey and purple; not yellow, not red, not blue like you"_

 _Chaos wanted to defend himself and point out that there's nothing wrong with being a villain and liking bright colors, but right now he's just focused in sympathizing with Mysterion and get him to open that damned door!_

 _"B-But purple is great color, you know! It suits you, it's pretty, it's the color of the eggplants! I dunno what you think, but I love eggplants!"_  
 _He tried to flatter the vigilante, and most likely failed since he just stood there, watching with his usual serious and unimpressed glare._  
 _"They're like... Egg plants. You know what I mean"_  
 _He had to admit his persuasive skills weren't the best, as he made some gestures with his hand as if he was holding an actual eggplant. Finally, Mysterion just sighed at his poor attempt._

 _"Nice try, Chaos. But I recall you saying that you hated all vegetables"_

 _Hamburgers. Fudge. Cheese crackers. He actually said that, back then when he tried to explain an evil plan that consisted in vanishing every vegetable from town and leave people with nothing more but junk food to eat; then they'll get fat like Cartman and be unable to move at their own, they'll have to use that scooter-bike thingies fat people use and are actually super slow; it will be super annoying for people that keep themselves fit like Mysterion. It wasn't that bad of a plan at first, but in the long run getting fat doesn't sound very appealing._

 _"B-But Eggplants aren't vegetables, are they?!"_  
 _That was his last attempt, if Mysterion doesn't listen to him then he would be doomed to be inside that cell for the rest of his life. The first few days he waited for his general to come and help, but Coon and friends most likely scared him enough to back off. At some extent, he was glad the small boy didn't get caught; there's only one cellar down there and it's already small enough for one person._

 _Yet, despite how much his voice shook Mysterion didn't seem interested in helping him at all. With a whine, the boy allowed himself to fall and sit in the floor of the cellar once again; almost immediately hugging his legs to his chest._  
 _"Ughh...!"_  
 _He whimpered, already feeling the tears in the corner of his eyes. There's no use, Mysterion is about to leave him in there to rot. Who wouldn't? After annoying everyone with his plans for so long, he probably wanted the small villain to remain down there to teach him a lesson; if he got there on his own he should be stubborn enough to free himself. Yet Chaos still wanted to point out that he tried; he tried so many times he lost the track, but every time he was about to pull through Coon and friends arrived and started to poke and make fun of him._

 _"Please, Mysterion...!"_  
 _He begged, voice cracking as he covered his face with both gloved hands to try and hide his tears, he wanted to cry so badly in frustration and sorrow of having been trapped for so long; he just wanted to go home and take a bubble bath, he even felt the necessity to take off his helmet right now; it's already giving him a terrible headache._

 _But he couldn't. He couldn't just let his full face to be seen by the hero, he couldn't just cry and show his weakness; but oh, let's just admit it. He wanted to be noticed, he wanted to someone- anyone to finally acknowledge him and the pain he felt, it was petty and childish but if he needed to make someone pity him by his tears to be noticed; then so be it. Small, muffled hiccups escaped him as his frustration poured out in salty, large droplets._  
 _"It's gettin' claustrophobic in here...!"_

 _Maybe Mysterion should have just stepped away and forget that he ever saw the kid, he should have let him in there like the punishment he deserved and maybe wait for General Disarray to come and take him home, he shouldn't have listened to every sniffle, sob and hiccup, but how couldn't he? The sounds echoed through the dark, silent basement. Even his uneven breath could be perfectly heard; until another sound resounded but Chaos was too distressed to fully process it._

 _Metal against metal. A door opening. Large footstep. Another door opening. Then more silence aside from his sobs and whimpers; until the small villain finally lifted his head after what could have been hours for all he knew; the door of the cellar was open, key still sticking out the lock; some light peeked in as the door that lead to the basement was left hanging open as well, but Mysterion was nowhere to be seen._

* * *

"I'm here"  
Chaos replied matter-of-factly as he stared down at Mysterion, whose eyes widened a bit upon seeing the small villain appear so suddenly. At least, he got one of his questions answered tonight. The vigilante instinctively pushed his body from the surface in a swift movement; making Chaos flinch and almost stumble backwards.

"Chaos"  
He couldn't help the way his voice carried some sort of hostility towards the boy.  
"What are you doing here?"  
Mysterion's tone was low and serious, this seemingly caught Chaos off guard as he looked slightly weirded by the hero's unusual demeanor.

The purple robed vigilante has always been the kind of hero that wouldn't hesitate in snapping your neck with his bare hands if needed, but also would be tender and caring to protect those he cares about; that's why the cops are after him and consider him a vigilante rather than a real life superhero; it doesn't matter as long as Karen considers him a guardian angel and he can kick the asses of some fucked up guys; if that's what means to be a vigilante and by any means a criminal as well, so be it. Yet his serious and dark demeanor towards professor Chaos faded with the passing years to the point he simply can't bear to treat the boy seriously when most of time he's so easy to tease and so difficult to be mad at. However, right now Mysterion is just focused in getting straight answers no matter what.

Despite that, Chaos didn't allow himself to be daunted and crossed his arms trying to match the hero's dark expression. He failed, by the way. It will always be such an adorable pout much different from the sick grin the vigilante could recall from the last time.

"I was preparing my surprise attack, until you noticed me"  
Kenny had to admit; the boy's surprise attacks have improved with the years. He usually tried to hide in the most likely place or at plain sight and it never really worked; but now it surprised him to know that Chaos' been staring at him for who knows how long until he thought Mysterion noticed him; it made him curious to what kind of surprise attack he was planning. The pout was quickly replaced by a grin; his villain grin to be exact, not sick or wry at all; heck, Chaos' face looks like it can't even manage such a freaky smile!  
"I see you're sharp as ever"  
Mysterion scoffed and let his gaze wander around, the boy's blue eyes following him all the way.

"Where have you been?"  
Well, even when the question sounded firm and totally no shit, it also seemed like an angry wife asking her drunk husband where the hell he spent all the night; demanding an explanation while still upset. Ugh. He had to stop listening to Kyle's weird ideas about he and Chaos making out. It took a few seconds for the villain to respond, closing his eyes and puffing his chest.

"I've been planning news ways to create destruction and ruin, Mysterion!"  
He kind of should have expected that, so he only rolled his eyes. This is the usual Professor Chaos he remembers, goofy and naive and always trying to be the best villain he can. How can anyone be mad at that kind of cheerful attitude? He finally turned to look at the smaller boy, who still seemed confused about Mysterion's sudden cold attitude.

"Since you know so much about destruction and ruin, what do you know about yesterday's fire?"  
He couldn't just go straight and point out he saw Chaos; or the fact that he thinks he saw Chaos, that's not professional. He had to wing it and hear what the boy has to say; after knowing him for so long even in the darkness the vigilante can still point out if the boy lied or not, when he did his voice quivered with nervousness and sometimes he would fidget a bit with his gloves wrapped in tinfoil. Sometimes he had to tell the boy to stop; the sound of tinfoil against tinfoil will make his ears bleed one of these days. The boy tried to look away slightly, reaching out to put a hand over his cheek. Signal of worry.

"I heard it was huge... And destructive"  
Not the information Mysterion was looking for, but Chaos seemed to resent what happened to the place and how many people lost their homes in the fire.  
"In the news they said no one died, so probably it was an accident of sorts. Had it been me I'd have burned down the entire town!"  
He finally pointed out, brushing apart his pity towards the fire and retaking his position as a supposedly ruthless villain, putting both hands on his hips and looking up at Mysterion.

"I also heard that Germany lost and the weather lady said tomorrow will snow all day, if you're interested"  
He added innocently, the vigilante hadn't noticed how something was different in Chaos today; he was wearing long sleeves for once. Must have been because of the weather report; to be honest the wind's been more chilly tonight even when Kenny barely acknowledged it anymore. It's South Park after all, the coldest town in Colorado and probably in the whole fucking world as well.

"Didn't know that"  
The vigilante answered with a shrug; now he knows he must create a few barricades to prevent the snow from filtering from the windows and holes of his small house. Chaos just stared back at him; with those bright, mismatched eyes glowing in the darkness of the night, maybe waiting for Mysterion to snap at him with another question or something, yet there was nothing else the hero wanted to say.

To say the least, he believed Chaos' words. He was innocent and feel sorry about the fire, he didn't look like he could suddenly pull out a pencil and stab him in the eye as a form of vengeance, no hidden knife anywhere either. To be honest the boy's never been one to bring out a weapon, just one time he brought a feeble golf club that got kind of screwed after the first swing, then he bawled on how his father would be really mad. Chaos is one stubborn kid, but not ruthless enough to do something like that; so there must be some sort explanation elsewhere. He wished he could just tell Kyle and wait for the redhead to do his brain magic but for now he was alone in this, the theory of the doppelganger coming back to his mind. For all he knew, there could be a weirdo out there trying to kill him and using Chaos' appearance to get the upper hand as mostly everyone in town knew Chaos, their villain-hero relationship of sorts was kind of unknown to many as people just though it was the same bullshit they see in the movies, even when their meetings were more like a play date by now. A play date Mysterion can't bring himself to be absent from and some lunatic would want to use against him; it actually seemed a bit stupid to think that Chaos would use something like that against him as the boy already knew many things about him, like the fact that he has a sister that's the sunshine of his every day; yet Chaos refused to acknowledge that for more than a few seconds because according to him there must something else to "exploit" against him, obviously Mysterion could see that Chaos wouldn't dare to lay a finger on his sister because that's just too low and would piss him off. Equally, Mysterion also knew Professor Chaos had over strict parents but never brought that up because their sole mention was enough to shake the boy a bit as he escaped every night without them knowing, but as scared as he was of them he'll never stop being stubborn and claiming to be an individual that reveals himself against the society and that usual villain talk. Speaking of which, the smaller blond was kind of saying something until Mysterion got lost in though.

"-terion! Are you paying attention?!"  
Looking down, the boy was obviously pissed and frustrated that the hero chose to thoroughly ignore him.  
"Gee, I could have destroyed you in matter of seconds but I didn't because that wouldn't be funny at all"  
Spat the boy, the slightest hurt in his voice has the one who always pays attention to his ramblings just refuses to acknowledge him, and Mysterion had to admit it made him a little guilty. Not only guilty for ignoring him, but also guilty that he's been so serious and cold with the boy the whole night.

"Sorry"  
He said quietly and scratched the back of his head from over the hood.  
"How's your eye, by the way?"  
He asked a bit more relaxed now, prompting Chaos to instinctively reach out to touch under his left eye, then grin.  
"Don't try to flatter yourself, Mysterion. That blow was nothing, it healed in few hours"  
Now he says that, but back then when the vigilante punched him he wouldn't stop complaining about how rude it was; yet the blond vigilante has to admit that the boy does heal up quickly, no matter how many times he clumsily almost gets himself killed; in matter of days or even hours he's ready to try again. He wanted to comment something else about how Chaos had been such a baby, but stopped in his tracks when a loud cough resounded in the darkness.

It was Chaos, who seemed to be caught into a coughing fit; covering his mouth with one hand while the other was braced around his torso, not long after he fell to his knees but didn't stop.  
"Chaos?"  
Mysterion crouched beside him, standing close but not daring to touch the boy because it will most likely cause him to swat his hand away and hiss he doesn't need any help, but in the end he put a gloved hand over the boy's shoulder to keep him steady at least until the coughing fit died down.

"I-"  
He tried to say something between dry coughs, but the vigilante just muttered a quiet _"Shhh"_ reassuring him to take all the time he needed. Maybe he was sick, Kenny reasoned. Maybe that's the real reason he's wearing long sleeves today; for someone with a cold or a flu the chilly wind of night can easily turn their bodies into shit, especially in South Park.

"I- I must leave"  
He finally choked out, and Kenny could almost feel how words constricted to get out of his throat; he would have wished to take Chaos back home but it was stupid to even consider the boy would allow him to.

Why would he? It was slightly invasive but justified since the theory that some weirdo may be still after them; yet Professor Chaos wouldn't want Mysterion to offer his help out of pity, sure enough the vigilante has done various things for him like bringing him an ice bag when he bruised himself badly, or even walk him closer to his home since the boy specified he doesn't want to show his arch enemy the location of his super secret evil HQ, but they always stayed like that and respected each other's boundaries. Of course the curiosity of discovering each other's identities under the masks and capes is always there, but they've never made any serious attempt to learn more about each other's lives aside from what they know. It was kind of better that way, during night they could fight and mess with each other around, keeping the dynamic of hero and villain; but during day they could be whoever the hell they wanted without having to worry about that. It's nice that they managed to establish things without even needing to discuss it or anything, but Kenny wouldn't deny that he still worried over Chaos and wished he could do more. Right now, there's not a lot he can do for the boy.

Standing a little shakily, Chaos darted away from Mysterion's touch and made a quick dash to reach the staircase beside the building; heavy booths thumping loudly in the metal steps; he didn't bother in keeping it quiet since the place was lonely apart from they both; the tall building stood tall and pretty run-down, surrounded by nothing more but a huge empty lot and probably with just a few hobos hiding themselves deep inside to take shelter from the cold. Oddly enough, Mysterion hadn't noticed that empty lot before. Maybe he had been too focused in the carpet of stars and half lit moon above, or Professor Chaos and his antics, or in his own swirling thoughts. He said nothing as Chaos' steps grew more and more distant until finally disappearing, and there was silence again.

"...Have a safe way home"  
Mysterion finally said, voice just above a whisper as the wind made his cape rustle and even managed to make him shiver a bit. It seriously was getting cold out there.

He should have been frustrated, angry even at not getting more information above the fact that Germany lost. Cartman must be deflated. But to be honest, he could only grow more and more uncomfortable at not knowing what happened, not being able to properly collect his thoughts and now worrying over Chaos like a complete softie. If there really is a doppelganger of Chaos out there that wants to kill Mysterion, that person most likely knows their usual routines and behavior towards each other and fuck knows what else. Last time the psycho used Chaos' appearance to fool him, but what if now that person tries to thoroughly wipe the villain from the map and replace him? Maybe Chaos is being stalked right now, and when the weirdo tries to make his first movement the small blond will cheerfully offer a partnership against Mysterion and place his complete trust just for that criminal to attack from behind and-

Dammit. He must stop thinking that way. Get your shit together, McCormick. Professor Chaos is not as feeble as he looks, clumsy but not feeble. He's seen the boy do some real rebellious and dangerous stuff and get away with it, like going to some bar in order to enthusiastically try and recruit gang members for his evil purposes, somehow that time he got away unscathed. Yet this time it's different if we consider that the fore mentioned weirdo can try to pull out some dirty trick to gain the naive villain's trust. Oh God, last time that person dressed up as Chaos, what if this time they dress up as Mysterion to fool Chaos? No, that's ridiculous if we consider the fact that supposedly Mysterion is the target, and besides if they could dress up as Chaos it won't be that easy to look like Mysterion; he was taller and bolder and his hair was different. To be honest, in the darkness it would be easy to look like Chaos if one picks the adequate clothing, teal cape and tinfoil gloves along common blue robes and tinfoil wraps around his booths, all of them easy to get aside from the helmet that according to Chaos he bought from a cosplay site on Internet when the one he used as a kid stopped fitting.

The hair that spiked up from the top of his head could be anyone's that got said style because of the helmet, the fact that's blond is not really useful since a ton of people in South Park has blond hair and blue eyes as well, Kenny himself, Bebe, Tweek, Butters, a ton of people. The height was pretty average for someone their age, a bit smaller than Mysterion himself but then again he's kind of tall but not as much as Stan, and finally there's the only thing the real Chaos would have but his doppelganger wouldn't; the mismatch on his left eye. The vigilante has never openly questioned Chaos what made his eyes so different, so he just knew it was some detail he never had enough time to pinpoint, some times he though that it was the clue he needed to finally satisfy his doubts and find out who Chaos is, but in the end it would be super weird to check on everyone's eyes, so he decided to brush it off. Besides, that's kind of Chaos' trademark and looked pretty badass to be honest.

Shit. He's getting nothing out of this. For all he knew, anyone could have replaced Chaos that night. To be honest, the clues he got are pretty much useless; that's why sometimes during day he would catch a glimpse of spiked blond hair and immediately think of Chaos trying to catch his attention before noticing that he's just thinking about it too much. Once again, Kyle's right; he's digging too deep into this and blending Mysterion's and Kenny's life. Right now, the only thing he should be dwelling about is how to create that barricades before the real storm begins.

* * *

 _Why this doesn't surprise him in the slightest?_

 _It's been like, two or three hours since he freed Chaos from the cell and here he's again. Curled up into a ball, shoulders shaking in the darkness, looking up at Mysterion with pleading eyes while the vigilante could do nothing but shake his head in obvious disapproval._

 _"And here I though you went home..."_  
 _He said, tone exasperated just to watch how once again the boy tried to get up and bumped his head with the cell's ceiling, making the bruise even bigger but ultimately letting himself fall to the floor, hand still in the top of his head._

 _"T-They outnumbered me!"_  
 _And why the hell you tried to fight them instead of going home? For sure the boy already knew he can't win against Coon and friends and would eventually end in that damn cellar that already made him feel claustrophobic. Whatever his lame explanation is, Mysterion won't give him the benefit of the doubt again. Last time he had been such a softie and let out a stubborn boy that most likely no one else is missing right now._

 _He should have just turned and left, like he wants to do now but Chaos' cracked voice keeps pulling him back._

 _"My p-parents are going to ground me"_  
 _He said, voice quivering and shoulders still shaking as he put his hands over his knees and stared down, blue eyes still bright in such a dark basement._

 _"We all get grounded, get used to it"_  
 _Mysterion's words were cold as he refused to spare a glance at the distressed villain, this was totally his fault and the vigilante doesn't have the obligation to help him, but when his gaze finally landed on the boy, every though about leaving him in there to learn from his mistakes and that shit seemed to wash away as he stared at those big, blue, mismatched eyes with tears threatening to spill from the corners. That sole stare seemed to carve deep and repeat the same things over and over again._

 _I'm sorry. It's not my fault. Please believe me._

 _Dammit. Why the hell he just can't get mad at this kid? He looked so damn innocent even when he's a stubborn little brat. Mysterion recognized the fact that he's most likely the only one that believes in him and listens intently when he has an evil plan. Like those times, right now the hero refuses to leave until the boy is capable of fully explain everything._

 _"You don't know them!"_  
 _He sniffed, and buried his face in his hands._  
 _"Last time I disappeared, when I came back they though I was a demon and locked me in the basement!"_  
 _Not pretty different from his actual situation._  
 _"They gave me nothing to eat, just raw meat sometimes..."_  
 _He sobbed, still remembering that his parents for some reason though he died and reincarnated into a demon, not even a ghost or something; a demon. Out of fear they locked him in the basement for weeks, sometimes throwing pieces of raw, red meat thinking he demanded a sacrifice of sorts every now and then or else he'll devour them and burn down the house and all those weird shit they got out of some lame movie. It wasn't until they called an exorcist that it was disclosed the very obvious fact that he's just a normal kid; from that on he got really grounded for months. Just the memory made him shake, his parents calling him demon and being in that horrible basement surrounded by pieces of raw meat; ugh._

 _"They didn't even allow me to eat spaghetti...!"_  
 _He finally broke into sobs, not caring that he spilled all of that to his supposed enemy. It was painful and frustrating, he already hates that cellar and isn't even sure if he wants to see his parents anymore because they'll ground him; well, he really wants to hug his mother. She must be worried sick right now._

 _A quiet click that echoed in the basement caught his attention, and finally lifting his head from his hands, there was Mysterion holding the door of the cellar open for him._  
 _"Just go, Chaos"_  
 _Of course he wouldn't be as bad as Chaos' parents or Coon and friends to just let the boy rot and decay in a fucked up basement, after all Mysterion swore to protect everyone, even when his immortality was such a curse, he could use it to protect those he cared about. And right now, the only thing he cares about is making sure the small villain returns home. Everyone needs help sometimes, no matter how stubborn they may be._

 _"Go with your parents"_  
 _He finished, and hoped that in the darkness Chaos couldn't see how his lips turned slightly upwards upon seeing how the boy's tearful face lit up with a small smile._

* * *

Granted, just like Chaos warned him, the snow started to fall first thing in the morning; Kenny really hoped that the barricades he created with pieces of garbage and run down furniture would keep the snow at line at least until he goes back from school to shove it out; there's no way in hell his father would do it while high, and he isn't allowing his mom or Karen to do it. They could catch a cold, and besides for Kenny the chill has never been a big deal. Arriving to school early in the morning, Kenny finally let the hood of his parka fall from his face. It was nice and cozy inside and it smelled pretty familiar, but to be honest the parka was squashing his head. It's been like that ever since he hit his growth spurt, and even when his mom insisted that he should get a new one he instead chose to wear the hood down. He just couldn't bring himself to get rid of it, and besides now he has the chance to finally focus on his face, maybe have his mother to cut his messy, dirty blond hair a bit and try to grow up of his childlike features; like that mess of freckles that once dusted his whole face but slowly started to fade away.

As he stepped in the classroom he was about to greet the guys like usual, but then he stopped in his tracks to see that they turned into freaking zombies! Both Stan and Kyle's skin were blue and they braced themselves while shivering. Frozen zombies, Kenny wondered if they eat brains or prefer a warmer meal. From his seat, Cartman was chuckling like an idiot at the sight, To be honest Kenny wanted to laugh as well. All that snow and wind for sure blew up their distinctive hats and they surely ran after them for hours, freezing themselves along the way. Making his way to his seat, he quietly waved at them just for Stan to wave back shakily.

"H-H-Hi, K-Ken"  
Kyle was about to greet him as well, but instead he just sneezed and wiped his face with the back of his sleeve, prompting Cartman to cackle loudly.

"Seriously, if you two made out in the snow or something that's too gay"  
The redhead would normally spit venom by the expression of anger he had, but the cold didn't seem to allow him as he only managed to flip the brunet off from his seat, only amusing him even further. Kenny just hummed; make out with someone in the snow doesn't sound like an unpleasant idea, but it's worth the hypothermia? He had to try it one of these days. Anyways dying from hypothermia isn't as bad as it sounds; there's certainly worse things.

"What happened to you guys?"  
The orange clad blond asked, just for Stan to sneeze as well.  
"K-K-Kyle h-had the great idea to go t-to the movies y-yesterday night"  
Always the super best friends, even in such a cold night they could find something to do together even if that turned them into fucking frozen zombies. That will never change, kids or teenagers or whatever. Kyle glanced at his friend, annoyed.

"S-S-Shut u-up Stan, y-you wanted to see t-that lame M-Marvel movie as m-much as I"  
The redhead countered, shivering and bracing himself, while the raven rolled his eyes.  
"I-It wasn't l-lame, it w-was c-c-cool but had we g-gone to see it e-earlier the fucking wind w-wouldn't have blow our s-stupid hats"  
There it is. Kenny can finally crown himself as a fucking fortune teller. Just the though of both super best friends running after their hats, Stan bumping with every person in the sidewalk and Kyle probably trying to cover his head could make anyone snort a laugh.

"I-It wasn't m-me the one w-who wanted t-to build an snowman of W-Wendy"  
They scowled at each other, and this seemed even more funny to Kenny. Of course they took the chance of a incoming snow storm to make snowmen and probably throw snowballs at each other until very late, they are such a pair of kids and that will never change. Even if right now they're upset at each other, they'll eventually brush the matter off and act like nothing happened.

"I-It w-wasn't Wendy"  
The raven said between clashing teeth without looking at Kyle, who scoffed with annoyance but didn't retort. It might have been Wendy for sure, there's no denying that.

With the passing minutes more and more students arrived, finally warming up (a bit) the cold classroom, Stan and Kyle finally regaining their common skin tones, the shiver in their voices faded as well and not soon after they were already talking to each other normally and discussing the movie they saw; a discussion Kenny didn't want to hear a shit about since these two along Cartman had been wanting to spoil him the whole outcome. Instead, he just let his head stumble in the desk and stared at the door while every classmate entered. He hadn't noticed how some girls really got hot; but subconsciously he also was waiting for Butters to arrive and ask him how he's feeling today. Yesterday he seemed good besides the fact that he coughed several times and during some of them it was almost as if he couldn't breathe; he had to open the window to catch some fresh air. Mr. Garrison finally entered and the oh so boring class began, but Butters never arrived.

"Hey"  
Kenny called out to Kyle, who was setting down his pencil and trying to focus in what their teacher had to say today, the Jewish boy turned to look at him from the corner of his eye, Stan beside him as well.  
"Have you guys heard of Butters?"  
He asked off handedly, both his friends shook their heads.

"He was sick practically yesterday ago, there's no way in hell his parents are allowing him to come with this storm"  
Pointed Kyle, and of course it made real sense. Although now he kind of feels jealous that his small friend is probably enjoying a mug of warm cocoa while they freeze their asses in that goddamned classroom.  
"That's right" spoke up Cartman, eyes closed but grinning. "So, do you want to leave him a message?" He said, taking out his phone and paying no mind to Mr. Garrison's speech.

That's something they usually do, when someone is absent they may leave that person an incredibly stupid and obscene voice mail of they talking about some ridiculous shit; they've done it since fourth grade and it's so fucking immature and childish but also so damn fun to watch the person's annoyed and pissed expression when they return the following day. They never mean all the stupid things they say, it's just for fun and besides Butters would be happy to hear his friend's voices, last time they weren't able to do it since the small blond was locked in the hospital; and last time before that the absent person was Craig... Who kicked them in the balls after all the shit they said about stripe #4. Back then it was funny as hell to see how angry he got after they said some bullshit about the Guinea pig he and Tweek own, but they swore to never bring back the subject after he beat the shit out of them.

* * *

 _"You have an incoming voice mail"_  
The voice of the call receiver resounded in the almost empty house of the Stotches, anyone could have heard it but right now Butters was too hyper focused to even acknowledge the phone that rung several times. The small blond couldn't tear his eyes apart from the piece of cloth he was scrubbing in the sink of the bathroom.

 _"Heeeey, Butters! How are you? Not freezing your butt, I hope?"_

That was Stan's cheerful tone in the voice mail, but Butters didn't even register his own name. He had to continue scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing.

 _"The fatass is the only one who gets his butt frozen every time it storms_ "

Kyle, gaining a growl from the fore mentioned fatass. The small blond could heard their voices, but they were almost distant as now his mind finally processed the pain he felt in his hands after scrubbing the turquoise sweater so hard, his creamy skin was now pink and calloused and his knuckles surely turned white from all the effort.

 _"The only fag out there that sleeps totally naked and gets his butt frozen is Kenny, because he's poor and has no pajamas"_

Retaliated Cartman, before Butters lifted the sleeveless turquoise sweater in front of him and let his eyes wander over the stains of red. He cut the sleeves of that sweater to wear it as professor Chaos, but now he found the piece of clothing discarded in the back end of his closet; completely stained with something he easily recognized as blood.

 _"Hey, I sleep naked but just because I want to!"_  
Countered Kenny with an annoyed voice.  
 _"Besides, it's sexy"_

At this point, Butters had no idea what they were talking about in the voice mail. He just wondered where that blood stain came from, and asked himself over and over again if it was his. It couldn't be his, he hasn't gained any cuts or bruises these past few days; the sweater had a hole that suggested something sharp jabbed at it just bellow the rib, but these days the small boy has kept himself unscathed aside from all the small burns and scrapes along both his arms. The burned skin was peeling off slowly, but he managed to conceal it; what he wasn't able to conceal is the burning sensation of his lungs after they got filled with smoke the other day at the fire. He couldn't recall correctly how close he got to the burning building, but it might have been a whole lot to get those annoying burns. Oddly enough Mysterion questioned him about the fire out of the blue, yet he actually answered with the truth as he had no idea of how it started. It made Butters wonder if the vigilante actually saw him getting close to the fire. He really hoped that wasn't the case.

 _"Geez, now you're making Butters drool all over that mental image"_  
Eric again, after exploding into full laughter at his own joke while the rest of the guys groaned.

Finally, Butters let the tainted sweater fall in the sink, resigned that it will stay that way most likely forever.  
"Hot dogs, no matter how much I wash it, the stain won't go away"  
He muttered in a small voice. True to be told, some stains will never go away. He could just trash it and hope for his parents to not find out.

* * *

During lunch break, Kenny could just stare from his seat and munch on a sandwich while watching the spectacle that was the people in the line to order their food, since Kyle and Stan rushed to it ever since they entered the cafeteria, both best friends were pretty far ahead and almost about to order their food, while Cartman who obviously wouldn't tag along and instead took his sweet time to arrive had ended in the far end of the line, from where he shouted every now and then some obscenities like "fags" or "dickheads" to the Super best friends. He always does that, mostly to annoy people in the line and get a rise out of Stan and Kyle, and much to the brunet's amusement he eventually gets to piss off Kyle when he starts with the insults against Jewish people. Most of time Stan is beside the redhead to keep him in place and remind him that today's pizza day, every insult will be worth it; and even when Kyle's logic filled brain wants to listen to the raven and stay, it's just matter of time until he finally gives in and leaves his spot to go and argue with Cartman much to Stan's exasperation. Logic and rationality be damned when he just wants to kick Cartman's ass, thing that he did and was proud of until the people in the line didn't allow him to go back to his spot beside Stan; the brunet chuckling evilly as things went exactly like he planned them to. Now the redhead is stuck in the end with him, arguing with the people in front of him.

"Come on, I was far ahead a minute ago! Stan, you say something!"  
From his spot Stan failed his arms in front of himself, shaking his head.  
"Sorry dude, I just know that I know nothing at all"  
Of course he didn't want to be involved in such matters and get dragged to the far end; he warned Kyle after all.

"What?! Stan, that's lame!"  
Groaned the redhead, the rest of the guys in the line not very willing to listen to him.

"You left the line, so you have to wait from the end like everyone else"  
Finished saying Kevin, who was before Kyle and Cartman; the other guys in the line humming in agreement and making Kyle groan again. Cartman just continued to chuckle darkly, gaining a kick in the knee from the Jewish boy who crossed his arms and stood in the line impatiently.

Kenny just snickered to himself and continued to nibble at his sandwich, until he noticed some people taking a seat by the end of the table he's currently in. It was Tweek and Craig.

"Hey"  
Muttered the monotone raven at Kenny while eyeing his own food like it was shit, while Tweek waved at him while chugging down coffee from a thermo. The orange clad blond waved at the couple; it was kind of amazing to think they've lasted for like, six years while Stan and Wendy or Cartman and Heidi or any other couple can't last a single month without having a fight and breaking up for good. Even when Tweek and Craig had quarrels like any other couple, they always managed to look past their differences and come to understand each other; and with that they eventually grew more and more fond of one another and more happy to be side by side.

This also helped them to grow as persons, but without stopping being who they are. Despite nervous, Tweek managed to calm down a bit just with being beside Craig, and no one would dare to say that the monotonous, totally no shit Craig Tucker mellowed out after he and Tweek got together. Before he rarely smiled and it generally was when someone's suffering or something, now he couldn't help but smile when his boyfriend did as well but no one looked at him differently because of that. He was still Craig, and would beat the shit out of anyone who messes with him or his boyfriend; so no more nasty comments about Stripe #4.

"How's Butters doing?"  
Asked Craig suddenly, always straight to the business. It's no secret that everyone in the class were at least a bit worried about the small blond, of course he didn't get the chance to talk with everyone, now for him to be absent again is kind of upsetting since for all they knew Butters could be sick again, considering how often he coughed and coughed yesterday-

Shaking off that thoughs, Kenny responded and tried not to make evident the fact that he's actually dwelling on the same question.  
"He was okay yesterday"  
He shrugged and Craig nodded slowly.  
"Cheerful as always"

"Told you so"  
Said the raven, giving his boyfriend a side glance that made the blond put his thermo down and fidget with his hands.  
"Agh, m-maybe yesterday, but..."  
Tweek fumbled, and Kenny watched how Craig slid an arm around his shoulder, giving him a few soft, reassuring pats in the back.

"I told you to not listen to Clyde, he only talks bullshit"  
The raven said, slightly raising his voice in the last part when the mentioned Brunet and Token approached the table with their own trays of food. Needless to say, Clyde looked pretty much offended.  
"Hey!"  
The brunet set down his tray forcefully, voice full of indignation.

"I talk no bullshit, I know what I saw!"  
They all turned their heads when Kenny cleared his throat loudly to catch their attention, lifting a hand to be acknowledged.  
"What kind of bullshit are we talking about?"

Craig scoffed and crossed his arms, brows furrowed.  
"All the bullshit Clyde said about Butters after he went to see him at the hospital, it freaked Tweek out so I had to go and check on him. He was bored out of his mind drawing or something, so I returned to kick Clyde in the balls for worrying us over nothing"  
Explained Craig, before punching Clyde in the arm and earning a yelp.

Ah. That makes sense. Kenny remembers how the other day he was eyeing Butters' sketchbook and found a weird drawing of Craig perched in the room's window, according to the small blond the raven just Muttered a "hey" and then left, now it kind of makes sense. Since Craig is Craig and doesn't give a shit about anything he probably climbed to the window to check on Butters quickly rather than entering his room like a normal person would.

Beside Clyde, Token shook his head in disapproval.  
"No cool, dude"  
Muttered the rich boy, Clyde could only let out a frustrated whine while rubbing the sore spot on his arm.  
"You don't believe me either?!"  
He said, voice frantic.  
"I talk no bullshit! I know what I saw!"  
Clyde repeated, voice louder this time; now Kenny was getting curious as to what the whiny brunet saw back then, so he leaned back on his seat to listen.

"I was passing by, so I though I could stop by and say hi to Butters since he must be lonely and shitty in that room, but then..."  
His eyes widened at the memory, like he was just retelling the massacre of Texas or something.  
"When I entered, he turned to look at me with black, unblinking doll eyes and blood splattered all over his face! He looked like a freaking zombie or some shit from an horror movie!"  
He shook, and Tweek did as well from his seat while his boyfriend continued to pat his back, unimpressed by the story.

"I swear to God, I think he was even grinning like a maniac so I ran out as fast as I could!"  
Clyde took a sip from his carton of juice, everyone still watching him with unbelieving eyes. To be honest, it didn't sound so unusual for Kenny since he visited Butters practically every day when he was at the hospital and got to know first hand of every symptom of his sickness; the most common one being that of coughing dark blood from time to time, he also sometimes vomited it but it was much more usual to see him trapped in a coughing fit, choking with his own blood and covering his mouth to prevent it from leaking out like a waterfall.

"I dunno what you guys think, but he almost looked like possessed by the devil! I mean, is not that crazy since his mother found him twitching and vomiting like the kid from the exorcist"  
He tried to convince them, and at some extent he was right. Linda described a fucking terror thriller when she found Butters in his room the day he became sick, but it still seemed pretty unbelievable. Because, this is Butters we're talking about! He can't even manage a maniac grin even if he tried to, besides his mother is not the mentally healthiest person in the whole town, she probably exaggerated out of fear.

"Come on Tweek, you're the paranoid one here! Remember when I told you and you though about all those theories of voodoo crap and witchcraft from Haiti that turns people into zombies without them even knowing? That could be it!"  
Craig punched him in the arm again, this time making him grunt in pain while Tweek fidgeted a bit before letting out a frustrated noise.

"I-I don't know what to believe anymore! Ack!"  
The Twitchy blond let out, grabbing a few strands of his messy hair and pulling it out of stress, but when Craig put a reassuring hand over his shoulder he slowly let go. Apparently, that plain gesture was like a reminder that he shouldn't pull out his follicles, thing Tweek apparently does subconsciously when too fed up with something or under too much pressure.

"Shut the hell up Clyde, no one believes you anymore"  
Spat the monotone raven, glaring daggers at Clyde who turned to see both Kenny and token, and upon taking a glance at their disbelieving faces, he let out a whine and looked down at his food, suddenly not so hungry anymore.

Even when Kenny couldn't really say that everything Clyde recounted was bullshit, it was too weird to think Butters was possessed by the devil or turned into a zombie and no one's noticed before. Yeah, there were days in which his sickness turned him into shit, but it had ups and downs. Some good days, some shitty days, with what Craig said about him and the way he drew with no issues that was apparently a good day. There's no way Butters was choking on his own blood and got better minutes after when Craig arrived. Maybe Clyde did saw something, but maybe it wasn't that bad and he just exaggerates to draw attention and freak Tweek out. Even when freaking Tweek out is not really funny at all, since he freaks out the whole school along him.

* * *

 _Mysterion stared intently at Professor Chaos dangling the controller on his hand, as they were in the rooftop of the hospital the villain threatened to blow up and kill a hundred innocent, sick people. The boy was giving some speech, but the vigilante was just focused in taking the detonator from his hands; if there's something Chaos is, is clumsy. With that Cartoon styled controller with a huge, red button, it's almost impossible for him to not press it by mistake and blow them all. Of course, Mysterion knew the boy is stubborn and rebellious, but he wouldn't kill that persons just to prove his point of being a villain. The Coon would, but Chaos simply doesn't have it on himself. Maybe he could injure himself like an idiot, thing that pissed Mysterion to no end because of his stubborn ass; but he wouldn't involve other people._

 _"-terion, are you paying attention?!"_  
 _He suddenly called out, and Mysterion continued to look at him with unblinking eyes, like he heard everything the villain was rambling about even when he actually didn't._  
 _"Or you'd rather find out by yourself the outcome of my plan?"_  
 _The blond villain said, emphasizing the controller on his hand with a smirk that made Mysterion's gaze harden; stupid, stubborn ass, childish... Child. He doesn't even know what he's doing at all! Just threatens without even thinking the backfire of his plan; he'll kill himself as well. Just for the sake of being recognized as a villain; does he really think that's worth his life? Does he value his own life so little? Maybe, unlike Mysterion he has no idea how painful can be to die. And in an explosion, no less._

 _"You'll kill yourself as well, Chaos"_  
 _The vigilante Retaliated, but to his surprise Chaos blinked, then shrugged his shoulders. Stupid, naive kid._  
 _"Maybe, but I'll kill you and everyone here as well. That's enough destruction and ruin for me" he grinned. "But if I die, I won't be able to see the fireworks when this place blows up..."_  
 _He said absent-mindedly, humming and pointing a finger to his chin while gripping the controller with the other hand._  
 _"...But knowing that my plan was successful is enough to make me die with a smile!"_

 _He finally said, and Mysterion took that opportunity to tackle him to the ground and hope for the controller to go flying away; Chaos can have a strong grip when he wants to, but if he's distracted with his speech he may forget about everything and give the vigilante a chance to catch him off guard. They landed roughly in the concrete surface of the rooftop, Chaos groaning when his head hit the floor and Mysterion on top of him, holding the wrist of the hand that still held unto the detonator in order to prevent the small villain to get any closer to pressing the button._

 _"I've had enough of you, Chaos!"_  
 _He didn't intend for the words to come out with so much hostility, but they did and just after saying that, a loud ringing echoed in his ears. The sound of the wind was suddenly no more, the lithe body bellow him was no more and the rooftop vanished completely._

 _Needless to say, Mysterion was confused as fuck. Instead of being where he was, it felt like he was floating in the darkness; almost as if he was falling in super slow motion and had to cover his ears from the annoying ringing that just grew louder and louder._  
 _"What the-"_  
 _He Muttered under his breath; dammit he couldn't even hear his own thoughs! Gritting his teeth and pressing his eyes shut he tried to ignore the sound as much as he could at least until it faded away. Just where the hell was Chaos? Did he manage to stop him? Did that stupid kid press the button? No, he had the villain pinned down a moment ago! Is this some shit the Coon is pulling on him? Yet, every though washed away when he heard a sudden, high pitched voice._

 _"It's enough"_

 _He couldn't quite recognize it. But when he heard it, he instantly feel the necessity to open his eyes to see- what was he supposed to see? The fact that everything around him wasn't dark anymore, instead he was surrounded by a blinding light that hurt his eyes, and then-_

* * *

Kenny opened his eyes grogily, the hood of his parka was draped over his head as he rested his cheek over the cold surface of his desk. He slept through classes; again, and had a weird dream; again. It wasn't that much of a dream since he could recall that actually happened when Professor Chaos and him were still kids, and it surprised him how the naive boy threatened to blow up an hospital like in the Batman movie. Of course he stopped the villain from committing such an idiocy and kill himself as well, but the part with the darkness and the light and the voice seemed like more of the crap that usually happens during his dreams. Turning his head to one side, most people already left the classroom while his friends were chatting among themselves, Kyle apparently discussing with Cartman the usual shit and Stan focused on his phone, Kenny sincerely didn't want to get involved in the whole matter neither he wanted to push himself from his seat, so it would be really nice if he could just ignore everything and drift off to slumber again.

But then, he saw it. Standing in front of his seat, Kenny's eyes widened upon seeing the same bright orange parka, and the same wide eyes peeking out of it. It was himself, Kenny McCormick but... Smaller. Hood covering his face like it did back when he was ten years old.  
"Hey"  
Said the kid doppelganger in the oh so familiar muffled voice, much to Kenny's amazement he put his hands in the pockets of his parka. it took the blond a few moments to collect his thoughs; this must still be part of the dream. Relaxing a bit, Ken muttered a "Hey" back, still a bit confused.

"Are you awake?"  
Asked the kid Kenny, his face inching closer to the real Kenny's.  
"Nah, I see you're not"  
The blond had to admit, this was one hell of a dream. He's seen himself as a child before in some really fucked up nightmares, but this was... Awkward.  
"I guess I'm not"  
Conceded Kenny with a shrug, not really knowing what he's supposed to do or say. Suddenly, the kid with the parka made a gesture with his hands that suggested Kenny to follow him, then he took off from the classroom door, the real Kenny's gaze following him all the way. Just when he though the boy would dissappear and this dream would end, the small doppelganger peeked his face from the door frame and glared back at him with lidded, exasperated big eyes.

"Follow me, dickhead"  
Muttered in his muffled voice, then took off again. Kenny could even hear the sound of his small footsteps as he ran along the hallway. It didn't took long for the real McCormick to get up and follow the boy more out of curiosity than anything else, maybe this could be a pleasant dream for once instead of a crappy nightmare like always. The sound of his chair scrapping against the floor startled Kyle out of his argument with Cartman, immediately turning his head to see the empty seat Kenny used to be sleeping in.

"Wasn't Kenny asleep a minute ago?"  
He questioned, Stan and Cartman's gaze following his.

Actually, Kenny was running trough the hallways as fast as he could, bumping on people and not bothering to even mutter an apology, just too focused in that damn child version of himself; the fucker was damn fast and ran through people with ease, while the real blond had to push people apart and even made some of them stumble just in order to not lose sight of the boy. His lungs burned as he breathed heavily, adrenaline setting in much like when chasing a criminal as Mysterion, at this point he just can't stop. Reaching the staircase, the small Kenny ran down in one swift motion; while the real one knew he should have slowed down because he could trip and fall and maybe crack his skull knowing his luck, but there was no stopping him when he was so close to reach the boy who stopped at the bottom of the staircase. Taking two steps at once, he ran down and almost didn't notice how he bumped into someone who was on his way up. It didn't stop Kenny, until he noticed that the sudden bump made that person lose his balance and start falling. Ken turned his head to see the person as he heard the panicked yelp and catched glimpse of who it was; Tweek. And he had nothing to grab on to keep himself from falling.

Realization finally caught on him. This isn't a dream. He was a reckless idiot and now that's about to get Tweek a possible concussion or trauma. Even when Kenny though he couldn't stop; somehow everything seemed to be going in slow motion as he managed to steady himself and turn his body around to open his arms and catch from behind the panicked blond, stumbling back a little but keeping both of them grounded. Phew, saved at least.

"Are... You okay?"  
Asked Kenny carefully, knowing full well that Tweek must be in the verge of a panic attack as his body shook and he let out soft, nervous whimpers.  
"I-I-I-I... Agh-! I am okay...!"  
He finally managed out, still in shock. And Ken couldn't help but sigh in relief until he heard a voice coming from above the stairs.

"McCormick what the fuck?"  
It was Craig, and he doesn't look pleased at all. In fact, he looks pissed off, steel eyes glaring cold daggers at Kenny who suddenly realized that he still had his arms wrapped around Tweek but couldn't let go because the panicked blond probably won't be able to stand on his own two feet after the shock. With firm and loud footsteps, Craig made his way down and people around the staircase started to chat among themselves and probably theorize that Kenny, being the man whore he is, surely tried to snatch Tweek from Craig and now is going to get his ass kicked for it.

Much to their surprise, Tweek managed to stand from Kenny's grasp to go over his boyfriend and flail his arms frantically in front of him, trying to make the raven stop.  
"N-No! It's not what it seems!"  
Said the blond, voice shaky with nervousness. Craig stopped to be merely inches apart from him and grabbed his arms gently; letting his steel grey eyes wander all over his boyfriend's body in order to find any injury or something.  
"I-I almost fell but K-Kenny saved me!"

It wasn't the whole truth, Tweek tripped and almost fell in first place because of Kenny's stupid behavior, but nevertheless the orange clad was thankful the blond either didn't notice or doesn't blame him for it; he really REALLY doesn't want Craig to send him back home in pieces. At least, not today. After finishing his inspection, Craig finally let go of Tweek and didn't seem pissed as before.  
"Thanks, dude"  
He said to Kenny in his usual monotone voice, and the blond nodded as the raven turned to climb up the stairs and leave; taking a hold of his boyfriend's hand as he seemed to be still in panic. Kenny turned around as well, about to continue down the stairs but there it was again.

The child version of himself, orange parka covering his face and all; still at the bottom of the staircase. Ken though everything was a dream, now it seems like some sort of shitty hallucination. The boy waved his hand at him, and Kenny couldn't help but wave back as everything around him seemed to fade.

Both Tweek, Craig, and everyone else in the hallways turned at the sudden noise of someone stumbling and falling from the stairs; just to find Kenny's limp body laying at the bottom of the staircase. Apparently he fell and rolled down, his head hitting every step until he reached the floor where everyone gathered around to see if he was still alive and murmur rumors about what the hell happened to him.

"Oh, shit"  
Muttered Craig, Tweek looking over the scene and twitching in panic.

* * *

 _Everything was pretty dark and blurry, even the few figures Kenny managed to catch a glimpse of seemed to be faded and didn't make that much sense; it was like staring at a TV filled with static and finding out you can recognize the shapes of some things but can't make out any detail at all. His head hurt like hell as well, almost as if it's about to split apart or explode like a pomegranate. For some reason, the little vision he had was focused in just one eye while the other was total darkness. Where the fuck is he right now? A moment ago he was in the staircase and then... What?something happened, maybe Craig actually beat the shit out of him? Was he dead? Dammit, there's again a ringing on his ears but this one seems to come with the damned headache that seemed to reach his brain-_

 _Wait a second. He recognized that pain. He recognized that sensations but can't quite recognize the dark place, yet with the little vision he had with one eye it could have been wherever. If he could move his hand and reach his socket, he could pull out the pencil Chaos used to impale his eye!_

 _"Is he dead?"_  
 _Above the ringing in his ears, there was an uninterested sounding voice he wasn't familiar with, it wasn't Chaos, was it?_  
 _"Nah, he's still alive"_  
 _Whoever it was, they sounded disappointed at the though of him still being alive. To be honest, Kenny couldn't quite point out if he was still alive or what. After Chaos stabbed his eye he passed out and later woke up on his bed; meaning he actually died that night._

 _"He's suffering a lot"_  
 _This time it was a female voice, and for what Kenny could see, these mysterious onlookers surrounded him; looking dark like shadows or... Ghosts? Were they ghosts?_  
 _"Not bad for your first time"_  
 _The third voice sounded bored, but at the same time amused at some extent as it was smaller than the others. Is this another fucked up nightmare? Because it somehow seemed different; but the piercing headache won't let him think._

 _"Mind doing the honors?"_  
 _Asked once again the small voice, and suddenly a blurred but still familiar figure could be seen in front of him. Blue, teal, yellow, and the silver helmet. It was Professor Chaos in front of him; Kenny couldn't quite make out every detail but it was him for sure._  
 _"I-I can't"_  
 _Chaos' voice, but it was shaky and small as if he was in pain. Kenny wasn't still sure what the hell is going on, but for some reason he felt a bit more at ease knowing that Chaos is here. Nightmare or not, unbearable pain or whatever, this is the Chaos he has known for so many years. Not the uncharacteristically serious and ruthless one that stabbed his eye and has been stuck on his mind ever since._

 _"You began the job kid, so you have to finish it"_  
 _A deeper voice this time, apparently all the figures wanted Chaos to finish him off and stop the overwhelming pain, but Chaos didn't budge from his spot._  
 _"I... I can't!"_  
 _The small villain shouted, not budging from his decision as well. That's how the boy is; clumsy and childish but also stubborn as hell; no one can make him budge when he sets out to do something like one of his evil plans. No matter who the hell these persons are or what the fuck they want, they can't make Chaos budge from his decision. Had Kenny had enough strength, he could have smiled. Yet, every color faded to darkness once again. How many times has that happened today?_

* * *

A melodic voice broke the silence, almost like a small chirping sound Kenny knew very well. It became louder and louder until he finally managed to make out what it was saying.

"Big bro?"  
The immortal's eyes fluttered open to meet the huge, shining eyes of his sister with her uneven brown bangs hanging over her forehead, worry evident in her features; Kenny quickly realized his body was resting over a fluffy mattress as he stared up at a white ceiling.

"...Karen?"  
He asked still groggy, his hand instinctively reaching to rub an aching spot on his forehead, the girl smiled at him but it still looked crooked and worried. Another set of voices broke in, and turning his head to the side he could see that Stan and Kyle were there as well; Stan sat beside his bed and Kyle stood with his arms crossed and a motherly scowl on his face.

"Are you okay?"  
Asked Karen, not daring to inch away from her big brother as he ruffled her hair affectionately to try and erase her worry; it seemed to work as she giggled but that didn't change the worry from his two friends.

"I'm fine, just got a headache"  
He tried to reassure, not really knowing how the hell he ended there; both the raven and the redhead raised their brows at him.

"Dude, you collapsed at the staircase"  
Began Stan with a worried tone.  
"Everyone around said you were alright and suddenly you just fell flat and bruised your head pretty bad"  
So, that's why that spot on his forehead hurts. To be honest, he remembers how things around him faded after saving Tweek and seeing for last time the small version of himself; it was like he just fell asleep out of the blue and had that weird hallucination/Dream/Thing about Chaos and that dark voices.

"We were in the classroom when it happened, Tweek suddenly entered panicking and saying that you died so we took you to the infirmary"  
Explained Kyle, scowl never fading. Of course the blond would panic, he might have been worried after Kenny collapsed but Craig surely took him apart to calm his nerves. Kenny has to remind himself to reassure the twitchy boy and tell him that none of what happened was his fault.

"How do you feel?"  
Said Karen, eyeing closely the new bruise that's apparently huge as hell since no one around him can't take their eyes from it.  
"A bit sleepy..." He answered with a yawn. "But I'll live" finished with a joke that apparently didn't amuse Kyle in the slightest.

"Seriously? The nurse said you passed out most likely out of exhaustion or starvation, Kenny. You're not okay"  
The redhead voice was firm as rock, he probably didn't raise it in order to not alarm Karen but Kenny knew that if it were just the two of them Kyle would lecture him with how much he needs to take days off from being Mysterion and rest at night, but the seriousness in his tone was enough to make his point clear.

"Yeah, you should stay here at least for a while and sleep or something. We can get you something to eat later on"  
Offered Stan, getting up from his chair; always being the sensitive and caring one. It must be wrong to take advantage of him like that, but how could Kenny say no to that? So he just leaned his head back in the fluffy and (probably) clean pillow.

"Free food and a sexy nurse all for myself? I should collapse in the stairs more often"  
He said jokingly, gaining a snicker from Karen and a half smile from Stan, Kyle rolled his eyes but the blond already knew he was relieved as well.  
"By the way, what're you doing here? Did you skip class?"  
Kenny asked his little sister. Yeah, sounds hypocrite since he slept the whole Mr. Garrison's class and skips art class more often than not and of course he's going to spend the whole afternoon flirting with the blonde, sexy nurse; not the best role model but nevertheless he wants Karen to follow her own path in life rather than imitate him or their parents.

She smiled at him, and pointed behind herself with her thumb; from what Kenny could see by tilting his head there were Ike and Tricia beside Firkle who sat on one of the beds, his face couldn't properly be seen since he was wearing one of those ridiculous dog cones around his neck; Kenny couldn't help but snicker and think how pissed the goth boy might be right now, as both the Tucker girl and Kyle's brother seemed to snort a laugh every now and then; which prompted Firkle to flip them off without even looking- Kenny wasn't pretty sure if he could see a thing with that cone on. "He's been complaining about a sore neck all day, so we brought him here"  
Explained Karen with a wide smile, letting out a soft laugh along her brother and the super best friends whom were amused as well.

"I hate you all"  
Spat out Firkle, voice full of venom and echoing in the paper walls of the cone as Ike put a reassuring hand over his shoulder.  
"Don't worry, the nurse said you can take it off in two or three... Days?"  
Said the Canadian boy before humming to himself and putting a finger to his chin. "Did she say days or weeks?" he asked Tricia, whom shrugged her shoulders.

"Shut up Ike, you talk too much"  
Despite the goth's harsh words Ike still smiled and patted his friend's shoulder, probably already used to the hostile behavior. Kenny just put his arms behind his head to get comfortable and spend the rest of the cold afternoon there; at some point he'll get bored out of his mind and grow restless, but for now he could enjoy it and stop worrying Karen and his friends. The snow he has to shove out can wait a bit longer.

* * *

Resting in the infirmary couldn't have been better, mostly because his bed back home doesn't have clean blankets or a fluffy mattress because it's literally a blanket in the floor with a hard rubber pillow, besides the nurse broke with her boyfriend for the fifth time this month and he finally managed to get her number. Karen and her friends were staying at Ike's place for a slumber party of sorts and Kenny knew the Broflovskis' house was perfectly nice and cozy for the kids to spend the snowy evening; Kyle could be the smart-ass he is and help them with homework, while Sheila kept an eye on them and prepared every blanket and pillow to make them feel at home.

After kissing both her big brother and mother, the girl left and Kenny shoved the snow out with the help of his mom since it wasn't as much as he expected. Since both his parents were working in the meth lab for the rest of the night, he prepared himself to go out as Mysterion, the dream he had about Chaos and those figures still lurking in his head. Kyle would be pissed off beyond belief but Kenny feels full of energy to patrol tonight and besides; stay alone with his thoughs the whole night has never been good for him. If anything, it could make him go crazy and restless, pacing endlessly in his small room while making out stupid theories one after another; when the most dangerous criminals and gangs are after him he can't just let his guard down, maybe Kyle would say it was just a nightmare his tired mind made up, but what if it isn't? What if these shady guys actually captured him back then and saw his face and now they know who he is? He died back then, that would probably erase their memories of that night- but what if they're manipulating Chaos into leading them to get Mysterion? Maybe they're blackmailing him or something, they looked pretty dark so what if they poisoned the boy? That would explain why he coughed so much the other day, maybe they drugged the small villain in the first place to get him to stab the vigilante's eye. What if they were... Perverts that wanted to see Chaos kill him just for the pleasure of it and then raped his dead body?! Gross! An orgy doesn't sound bad but they could just ask if they wanted one, couldn't they? Maybe they even knew voodoo magic from Haiti and turned Chaos into a zombie without him even knowing like Tweek theorized before. But to be honest all of that sounds like bullshit, that's why the logical thinking is more of Kyle's thing. With all of that shit going on in his head he just wanted to bash it again the wall and die right now, but it would hurt like hell and dressing as Mysterion and patrolling during the night seems more useful and has always been able to clear his mind from the problems and all that crap. After all, everyone has their own drugs to keep themselves grounded; his father and mother have the meth, Stan's dad drinks his problems away, Cartman can eat as much KFC chicken as he wants, Tweek has the coffee and Craig by his side, and Kenny has Mysterion; the adrenaline he feels in every battle is overwhelming and seems to wash everything away as he just has to focus in every punch and kick without even caring if he dies. As long as he helps people and keeps the city safe for Karen, everything is worth it.

Although he can't shake that hallucination of himself as a child. Apparently Cartman has hallucinations of himself as cupid, so it can't be that bad considering that the one Cartman sees is naked and acts very cheesy on him, but it's still weird.

It's been an hour or so since the night fell and with that Mysterion went out as well, generally staying in the shadows which isn't pretty hard since South Park is specially dark at winter nights, considering that the streets are only lit by a few flickering lampposts, the more illuminated areas being the ones with grocery stores and bars where people are either drinking or buying last minute supplies to make dinner. So, the vigilante preferred to watch the pedestrians either from the top of a building or from an alleyway where no one would acknowledge his presence unless he voluntarily stepped out to beat the shit out of someone; no one ever noticed him as they were too busy in their own amends, yet he still isn't the freaking batman and can't literally melt in the darkness, though. His only power is still his immortality and his stubborn ass, but for now that's enough to keep the crime at line in South Park.

As the night went by, he switched from rooftops to alleyways several times, watching as some drunk men trash talked but surprisingly did nothing to really hurt each other. He wondered if that's how Kyle and Stan will be when they reach their thirties; drunk and full of shit but not daring to hurt each other even when intoxicated because they care too much. The though made him snicker, but nevertheless feel a bit bored as with every passing minute the streets grew more empty; not even a soul to be seen around.

Jumping from a rooftop, he landed safely in the top of a garbage container full of bags that took in his fall, it was inside an alleyway so he leaned against the wall and let the darkness conceal his features as he watched the empty, lonely street that was mostly lit by the moonlight as the only lamppost that worked flickered every now and then. Shit, nothing here either, so he had to switch places again. Letting out a sigh; he lowered himself to a crouch and rubbed his eyes as they were already getting tired of squinting for any sign of danger in the darkness of South Park. Yet, after removing the gloved hands he could see it clearly in front of himself.

Bright orange, wide eyes and face completely hidden under the parka, there was it again. The child version of himself stood merely inches apart from Mysterion; they were practically the same height now that he's crouched.

"You look better"

Said the kid in his muffled voice, the vigilante just watched at him with furrowed brows before rubbing his eyes once more; nope, the small Kenny was still there. Shit, he must be more screwed than he originally though.

"What do you want?"  
Growled Mysterion in his deep tone, already getting tired of this. Because of this stupid hallucination Tweek almost fell from the stairs and Kenny got a totally unattractive bruise, can't he just go away? Apparently no, since the boy lidded his eyes like he just asked the most stupid question in the world.

"I want you to wake up, dork"  
He remembers the little fucker said something like that before, he asked Kenny if he was awake and decided by himself that he wasn't; later taking off and requesting him to follow. Back then he though it was a dream, but this ISN'T a dream, is it?  
"I am awake"  
Mysterion retorted firmly, hoping that this would hopefully make the boy go away and let him enjoy the rest of his uneventful, boring night of patrol.

"You're not awake enough, then"  
Countered the small Kenny, his muffled voice with a hint of annoy. The vigilante scoffed and stood from his crouch, crossing his arms and trying to ignore the kid version of himself.  
"Whatever"

"It's true!"  
Now, the orange clad boy sounded upset as he crossed his arms as well.  
"You're just too stupid to notice"  
He might be small, but he's starting to become a pain in the ass with all that bullshit, can't he just spit already what the hell he wants Kenny to do?

"What do you want from me, then?"  
Mysterion asked, trying to keep himself serious and professional even when he's actually talking to something that just exists in his head, so he's actually talking alone... Good thing there's no one to notice right now. At this, the boy let his arms fall back to his sides and made that gesture that indicated the older version of himself to follow, like he did in the classroom before.  
"Just follow me"

He kind of should have expected that, taking a minute Mysterion couldn't help but think on how bad of an idea it was. Last time in school it was a bad idea, now it can get not only him but maybe innocent people killed as well, but what if the boy was some sort of sixth sense of sorts and tried to lead him somewhere less boring? If his mind was really trying to tell him something, it must be important or a warning that he's going crazy; both of them seem pretty likely but deep down Kenny knew the small doppelganger won't just go away. If he pushes him away he'll keep coming an coming until Kenny finally listens, so it would be good to get this done with already. Turning his head to look at the kid, he was already running away as if he sensed that Mysterion would chase after him. Damned fast fucker. Sighing, Mysterion followed him across the dark streets, passing by the flickering lamppost and stopping where the sidewalk rounded to see which way the kid went; with his bright orange parka he can easily be spotted no matter how dark it gets.

Sure enough he wasn't that far, standing in the sidewalk a few meters away the small Kenny stood beside another lamppost that flickered but not as much as the last one. But he wasn't alone, he stood beside someone quite familiar that hasn't acknowledged Mysterion's presence.

"Butters"

Whispered the vigilante, glaring at the sunny blond boy in the sidewalk. Surely enough, that was Butters with his distinctive bright turquoise sweater and holding an arm around a paper bag with many groceries, while his free hand held his phone to his hear. Maybe calling his parents, Ken reasoned as he seemed distracted; his father probably sent him to get some last minute supplies for dinner, buy it's pretty dangerous to walk around at this hour. Butters probably got stuck in one of those never ending lines with people paying for everything with coupons and that shit, so now he was calling his parents to let them know he's on his way back; apparently they didn't pick up the call as the boy downed the phone to stare at the screen with a small pout. Lucky for him the snow wasn't falling as hard as before, just a few snowflakes every now and then; so he wouldn't have to worry about freezing himself.

Mysterion stayed grounded in his spot, just watching to make sure Butters headed home safely, but the kid version of himself had other plans. Of course Butters can't see him as he's just in Kenny's head much to his chagrin, but to the vigilante's surprise the boy's quietness didn't last long as he reached out to grab Butters' wrist that held unto his phone.

To Kenny's awe, Butters eyes almost immediately widened and he started to look around, like he actually felt someone touching him.  
"What the...?" Mysterion muttered, eyebrows furrowed in confusion and his surprise matching that of his sunny blond friend as he continued to look around, startled. However, as confused as he was he forgot that he's standing in the dark sidewalk, not really far from Butters whose gaze finally landed on him. It took him a moment to realize it until his friend's mouth opened slightly in realization.

Oh shit. He knew that following his mind and gut feelings were a bad idea, now Butters is staring at him like he's some sort of lunatic that's going to steal his groceries. He was probably trying to squint in the darkness to make out who he's, not fully recognizing Mysterion as his dark clothes blended perfectly in the night. Taking just a step forward, he allowed the feeble light of the lamppost to illuminate his hooded face slightly just for Butters to notice he's Mysterion; the Superhero, vigilante or whatever you want to call him that's definitely not going to steal his supplies. Not sparing a word, Mysterion watched how his friend's shoulders relaxed a bit; but then, his pupils immediately shrunk.

Like he just saw a ghost. Except for the fact that suddenly, a streak of dark blood streamed from his nose and reached his chin from where the red droplets started to fall and probably stain his turquoise sweater. Mysterion's eyes couldn't help but widen a bit as he watched Butters terrified expression with furrowed brows; maybe he was in pain as well? Is this another sequel of his sickness? He had no real time to say or do anything since the sunny blond dropped the grocery bag and took off, like he was trying to run away from Mysterion.

Maybe he should have let things like that, he should have continued with his patrol and leave Butters to go back home; but he couldn't. He just couldn't, he can run into some criminal or maybe the sequel of his sickness can get worse or something, Mysterion just can't let him by himself right now. He wants to help, after all he swore to protect everyone. Paying no mind to the small doppelganger he ran after Butters, who didn't get pretty far until he came to a halt; back facing Mysterion as he apparently tried to wipe his face clean, or that's what the immortal could guess in the darkness as the weak light from the lamppost faded away a while back.

The vigilante could hear how the boy panted, probably for running and his shoulders seemed tense, so he stayed apart from him in order to avoid startling the boy any further. He wasn't afraid of Mysterion, though; who could be besides the criminals? Kenny knew better to understand that he was probably scared of the sudden nosebleed product of his previous sickness. Yet the reaction was a bit exaggerated, it made him wonder how bad it really is. After a few seconds his breaths seemed more even, so the vigilante took this chance to finally speak up.

"...Are you okay?"  
He asked in a soft, quiet voice that made Butters spin around to stare at him with his big, sky blue eyes. The blood had been wiped from his mouth and nose but there was some in his chin that he probably hasn't noticed. He immediately started to rub his knuckles like he usually does when nervous.

"I'm... Okay, Mysterion"  
He finally replied in a small voice, trying to look down an not meet the vigilante's firm glare.  
"I'm just a bit sick, that's all"  
He continued to look down, but closed his eyes and smiled slightly to emphasize that there's nothing to worry about.  
"I'm already gettin' better"  
It didn't really sound convincing, but if Butters wasn't about to said anything else Mysterion can't press any further. He's not Kenny, Kenny could just inch closer and ask the boy what's wrong; Butters wouldn't lie to him because he's terrible at it and Ken would find out in less than a few seconds.

"...Or maybe not"  
He heard Butters say in a voice just above a whisper, more to himself. It was subtle but he noticed how it cracked even when the boy was still forcing a smile; he finally looked up again. "Maybe I'm just gettin' worse and worse with each day-"

There was so much pain in that few words, and even when he smiled his brows dropped and maybe he hasn't even noticed how a tear streamed down his eye, but everything Butters was about to say suddenly died down in his throat as a pair of strong arms wrapped around him in a embrace. He didn't notice when Mysterion came closer to pull him into a hug, but he did.

 _"Shhh"_

Whispered the vigilante as the boy was left a bit shocked, mouth slightly open as a gloved hand reached to brush away the stray tear. Mysterion knows he shouldn't be doing this, he shouldn't have chased after Butters in first place, Kyle would totally kick his ass for being so stupid and reckless and let his emotions control his movements, Cartman would probably laugh and say that this is really gay, but he doesn't give a shit right know. Butters needs his help, be it Kenny or Mysterion he needs someone and the immortal can't stand to see him like that or leave him alone like that. He needs a hug right now, and it was evident as the sunny blond slowly wrapped his arms around him as well.

"It's okay, you're going to be okay"

The taller blond said softly, resting his chin in Butters' shoulder as the boy seemed to melt in the hug, just letting out a small hiccup but not quite crying. After a few seconds, Mysterion pulled apart slightly not breaking the embrace but just enough to make eye contact with Butters, who seemed calm but still a bit confused as he finally held Mysterion's gaze, realizing the worried stare the vigilante was giving him; it seemed so different from his usual firm, steel glare. Because of the hood obscuring his features he's never been able to take a good look of Mysterion's features, but even in the dim light of the half lit moon he could see that said vigilante is beautiful. His pale skin seemed porcelain white and flawless, but upon closer inspection it actually had various freckles dusted over both his cheeks; his eyes were a deep tone of ocean blue and the tufts of messy dirty blond hair that peeked from his hood framed his face perfectly even if it was a bit long and uneven. Butters didn't need to squint too hard to notice the genuine concern in the vigilante's face, but suddenly the image seemed to just fade.

Mysterion was still there, but he didn't look concerned anymore, suddenly his face contorted in pain- what the hell was that sticking out of his left eye? While his right one was hazy and devoid of light there was something sticking out of his left socket, was it a pencil carved into his skull? And leaking out there was a trail of blood and fluids, reaching his chin as more red droplets were splattered all over his face, by the looks of it the pencil had been struck violently and forcefully. His mouth was still open, like he just let out a pained scream before going still. Just what happened to him?! The sudden image seemed printed to Butters' eyes as he continued to stare at the concerned vigilante who still held him close, and watched how the boy's eyes widened and his mouth opened to scream in horror but no sound came.


	5. Chapter 5: It will never be gone

Kenny could only watch in awe from his spot as the sand castle was built. Both Stan and Kyle, still so small sat inside the sandbox across from each other, Stan used a bucket to create mountains and Kyle meticulously shaped them to make it look like an ancient castle of sorts, just using his expert hands. Cartman didn't want to get his clothes full of sand, so he stepped away from the playground to get himself something to eat, Kenny was left alone sitting by himself in the soft sand as he just couldn't bring himself to be the third wheel among the super best friends. He could always find something to entertain himself with, but couldn't help but feel abandoned right now. It would have been good if he could just die or something, but the though just washed away when he spotted Butters in the far corner of the sandbox. He was using a small shovel to create a sand mountain that fell apart almost immediately, making him pout and try again to no avail. Snickering slightly, Kenny crawled over to where he was absent-mindedly trying to keep the mountain whole, he hadn't even noticed Ken until he sat in front of him and using a bucket he grabbed from Kyle and Stan, he created a pretty good mountain of sand that so far wasn't falling apart. This is the closest experience they will ever have relatively close to a beach in South Park; there aren't hot chicks in bikinis but it's actually not so bad. Yeah, for Kenny to be left aside by his best friends is pretty much annoying, but he can always play with Butters like that. They make a good team, to be honest; Kenny stacking the sand and Butters shaping it like Kyle does. He's not that detailed and won't create a work of art in a few minutes, but the way he sticks out his tongue in deep focus and smiles at Kenny when their castle is finished makes the immortal feel glad and smile as well under his parka. Of course the smaller blond can't fully see his face, but by now he already knows how's Kenny feeling by just seeing his eyes.

But then Butters' smile faded. The playground faded as well, the blond was still on front of him; just that now he looks older. Before he was terribly small and petite looking, almost as if he could break when added the exact amount of pressure; but now he looks taller and his hair is longer, still a spiky mess of sunny blond and with big blue eyes that looked directly at Kenny, but he was still smaller than a normal boy of his age. How older they both are? Sixteen? Because Butters definitely looks younger than that. His features will always be so soft and he'll always wear those turquoise sweaters he likes so much, he'll never change with the passing years and Ken was grateful of that. He likes Butters the way he is, so cheerful and naive and innocent. But right now, he really doesn't like to see Butters. Not like that, with his big blue eyes widened, face pale as a sheet, and mouth agape like he's about to say something but he can't. Then, it finally came. He let out a piercing scream of pure terror, Kenny noticed there were tears in the corner of the boy's eyes as he broke the embrace they were in and ran away. His bright figure of blond hair and turquoise slowly fading in the darkness, and Kenny could do nothing else but watch how the boy runs in attempt to get away from him. He wanted to reach out his hand and tell him to stop, but the scream seemed to paralyze him in place to the point he could just stare at the dark void in front of him, asking himself what happened over and over again; already missing the soft and warm body he held even if it was just for a few minutes. Staring down at his gloved hands he immediately realized that someone was still in front of him even after Butters left.

"Poor Kenny"

Said the muffled voice of the kid version of himself, hands in the pockets of his parka as he glared at Mysterion.  
"Did you really think that would work?"  
He asked, and looked back to the path Butters just took.

"I just wanted to help him"  
Mysterion muttered, mostly to himself as he continued to stare down at his hands. The small doppelganger made a sound akin to a scoff, muffled by his parka.  
"You know you can't help him. You can't help anyone"

His words were pretty harsh, and much to the vigilante's surprise everything around him seemed to fade. He wasn't in South Park's dark streets anymore, instead an endless void of white surrounded both him and the kid, who seemed unimpressed and continued to talk.

"Do you know why we put on masks in the first place? It's not because we want to hide our identities and protect our loved ones or that bullshit you read in comics, we put on masks because we want to pretend we are someone else"

As he said that, the white void changed and before Kenny's eyes there were various moments he could remember, moments of himself as Mysterion beating evil guys, saving people, comforting Karen during a cold night and giving her his cape to protect the small girl from the cold; moments of him fighting against Professor Chaos and preventing him from blowing up the hospital, there were also good moments in which he actually helped the villain like by freeing him from Coon's holding cell and even patted his back reassuringly when his evil plans were once again foiled. One after another like a movie, all of his memories flashed in front of himself.

"Someone else cooler, bolder"

As the kid said that, there were moments in which he fought against Coon and finally saved the town, Karen beaming with happiness and wrapping her short arms around his neck only for Mysterion to lift her with a smile.

"But in the end, we are the same person aren't we?"

The images disappeared. The only memory that flashed in front of him was of a moment ago, when Mysterion hugged Butters and tried to reassure him, to calm him down and comfort him; but after a few minutes the blond ran away, screaming in horror and not bothering to look back. The memory faded there and the white around them returned, yet Kenny couldn't muster a single word.

"No matter how many people you help or how many times you save the day, you still can't make up for your sins"

The muffled voice was firm, and the doppelganger's eyes glared daggers at the real Kenny who furrowed his brows and finally lifted his head to meet the other's gaze.

"My sins?"  
He asked, voice a mixture of anger and confusion.  
"Your sins"

The kid echoed, turning his head to the side to see how another memory started to play before them. A lot of noise and loud voices could be heard, like some people were arguing violently, along the sound of things crashing and stumbling everywhere but the memory focused in a small, dark place. Inside a closet to be exact, with his back leaned against the closed door, an eight years old Kenny McCormick sat in the dirt covered floor with a small Karen sitting on his lap. He tried to cover the girl's ears as much as he could and hope for his parent's quarrel to end, but it didn't seem to be working as Karen had her eyes tightly shut and tears streamed down while she clutched at a small doll so forcefully that her knuckles turned white. Kenny could perfectly remember that night; his parents started to fight about the meth lab and his father had the upper hand, immediately seizing Carol and manhandled her as much as he wanted. She could only tell Kenny to grab Karen and lock themselves in the closet to remain safe from their high father. Back then, the immortal didn't know what to do; he wanted to protect his sister with his own life but he also wished he could stand against his father and protect his mother as well.

"What's wrong, Kenny?"  
Asked the doppelganger with a mocking tone, upon noticing Kenny's discomfort at seeing that specific memory.  
"Don't worry, this isn't your fault. There was nothing you could have done back then"  
He commented, walking around the real McCormick.

"Absolutely nothing, just sit and protect Karen and feel like an useless piece of shit while dad beat mom"  
Kenny had to look down while his body shook with anger, both from the boy's words and from hearing his mom's pained screams in the memory. He tried to control himself, the kid is most likely just trying to get a rise out of him.

"You also couldn't do anything the next day, when Karen cried and cried after seeing mom so bruised and bleeding. You could do virtually nothing, but you wished you could, didn't you? You wished you could beat the shit out of your stupid father but you were so small and worthless, you could do nothing at all"

The boy continued to rub salt in the open wound, Kenny just wanted to tell him to shut the hell up, he wanted to punch something and release his anger because everything was the fucking truth. It wasn't his fault, it really wasn't but he spent days and nights feeling like it actually was, blaming himself like an idiot.

"Shut up" he muttered, and to his surprise, the memory switched again. Now he could see the snow falling hard in the front yard of his house.

"And what about this?"

Asked the kid, gesturing the figures that stood out in the white field, there was Carol standing in front of the house, beside her stood Kenny hugging Karen from behind and various feet away from them there was Kevin, his big brother. Carol had her face buried in her hands, and moments after she rushed back inside the house; sobbing all the way. This didn't seem to take back Kevin, who continued to walk far away from the home, just looking over his shoulder once to see Kenny staring at him with annoyed, but also unimpressed eyes. Then, he scooped Karen over his shoulders and entered the rundown house as well; the brunette girl turned to look back at Kevin with curious eyes but didn't say a thing. Not fully understanding that Kevin was leaving.

"You couldn't do anything, could you? Kevin was going to leave sooner or later, after all. What could have you done? You knew talking things out with him wouldn't work, but you didn't even try. Then you started to think that maybe there was something else you could have done, and you couldn't help but feel small and shitty and useless again"

Kenny closed his eyes shut, as the kid went on and on and was already getting under his skin. He had forgot about all of that, he stopped blaming himself and feeling useless a long time ago, but now the doppelganger was bringing everything back to him like a tidal wave that crashed mercilessly.

"And this, it was actually your fault but at the same time it wasn't. You couldn't have known what would happen"  
He didn't want to listen anymore, he didn't want to see any other painful flashback, so he mustered his will to keep his eyes squeezed shut, but the pained noises of the memory that played in front of him were unmistakable. He couldn't help but stare, even when he didn't want to he had to stare.

There were the guys, their winter clothes slightly modified to look like badass ninjas back when they were just kids; everyone surrounded Stan who used a nipper to try and take out the Shuriken ninja from Butters' eye. The small boy just whimpered in pain every time the raven tried to pull it out to no use, blood dripping from the open wound as the Shuriken was carved deep.

"But nevertheless you were pretty useless, all of you guys were and that almost costed Butters' eye"

The image faded, and turned into a series of images that depicted Kenny and Butters, as he accompanied his small friend in the hospital, as they played together, as they went to Hawaii and finally when Kenny visited him these last few days, when he was sickly and pale, as well as bruised but still smiled at his parka wearing friend.

"And no matter what you do, you can't make up for him! The stain of what you did will never be gone, it'll stay like that forever and mock you for the rest of your lives!"

The boy explained, as he literally showed Ken the stain of what he did; the scar in Butters' left eye that could easily be noticed as it ran in the inside of his eyeball. The images disappeared, and the white around them set in again; Kenny unable to say something to his doppelganger who stood inches apart from him.

"You understand now, Kenny?"  
The kid asked sounding innocent, tilting his head to one side.  
"You can't just pretend you're some shitty hero and make up for being useless, Mysterion can't wipe away Kenny's mistakes no matter how hard he tries"

Kenny clenched his fists forcefully to the point his nails dig in his gloves, as the boy paced around him.

"Try with bleacher, bicarbonate, you pick one! No matter how hard you try to wipe things clean, the stain of your mistakes will never be gone~!"

He sang, flailing his arms and mocking the immortal who clenched his jaw, trying to tell himself over and over again that this must be some stupid nightmare or whatever, the boy is pissing him off in purpose, hitting a nerve just for the sake of it.

"Be it Kenny or Mysterion, you can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved..."

He turned his head to see as yet another memory flashed in front of them; it was the night of the fire. When Mysterion caught sigh of Chaos inside the burning building, but after calling his name and trying to reach for him the boy ran away.

"...And you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped"

The kid finished, voice just above a whisper as the memory shifted to once again, the scene of Butters breaking from Mysterion's embrace and running away in panic and fear. It eventually faded, and the boy said nothing more. They just stayed silent, Kenny looking down and the doppelganger with his big eyes fixated on him.

"...Why are you saying all of this? Why do you want to bother me with all this shit?"

Finally asked Kenny, his Mysterion voice no more as his tone was just low and upset. In return, the boy just stared with lidded eyes.

"Be true and honest with yourself, Kenny. You know that everything I said is true, you may forget about all your guilt and negative feelings but they'll always be there"

The small parka boy explained in a calm voice, flashing in front of them another series of flashbacks; in one of them Kenny became angered at Stan because the raven was upset and distraught at the prospect of Kyle dying for the malfunction of his kidney; yet he never spares more than a few words to acknowledge Kenny's daily passings. The immortal remembers that he was completely mad at all his friends and stayed like that for a long time because they didn't care enough about him, yet, he later learned that no one really remembers him dying; the frustration he felt never went away because they've never acknowledged his multiples deads for more than a few seconds. Then it changed, and there was Kenny crying his eyes out while Butters kept a hand over his shoulder with a sympathetical expression, it was when Cartman ate the whole bucket of KFC and left all of them with nothing; he and Cartman could be called good friends back then, but after that things were never the same. The negative feelings always remained, no matter how much he tried to bury them. Kenny didn't say a thing, he already knew that what the boy said was true but isn't about to just admit it and give him the satisfaction; yet suddenly he was snapped from watching the memories when the small himself grabbed his forearm gently, almost as if he were trying to reassure him.

"But you know... Being Mysterion, a badass superhero that beats evil guys and makes up for your mistakes... It was such a nice dream"

He said as the remaining memories faded and they stood beside each other in the white void; his voice being sympathetic and even gentle in contrast to how harsh he was before.

"But you have to wake up, Kenny"

* * *

That's the last thing Kenny heard before literally waking up with a loud gasp; practically jolting out of his pseudo bed as sweat dripped from his forehead even when it was snowing outside. The blond panted a few minutes before reaching to wipe away the droplets of sweat, immediately noticing that he was still wearing his Mysterion mask. Actually, he's practically fully dressed as Mysterion except for the booths; luckily Karen isn't home and his mother always respected his privacy enough to knock before entering.

It took a moment for him to recall what happened yesterday; he had been patrolling and bored out of his mind before that stupid doppelganger appeared and he had the even more stupid idea of following him; the boy lead him to Butters who for some reason was still outside in the darkness of the winter night, when another sequel of his sickness suddenly gave him a nosebleed. It didn't really seem that bad if it weren't for the fact that he got startled, panicked even, and tried to run away but Kenny couldn't just shake his worries towards his small friend; so he followed to make sure he was okay. Butters was distressed and ended saying things about how his sickness is becoming worse with each passing day; and even when he was supposed to be still Mysterion, the serious and badass vigilante, he couldn't help but try and comfort his friend the same way Kenny would have, by holding him close and remaining by his side no matter what. That worked, for like five minutes before Butters freaked out and ran away, screaming in horror like he just found his parents dead or something. After that, Kenny couldn't quite put his thoughts in order; he though about Butters' panic and worried just like Kenny, but at the same time was trying to look out for criminals and watch his own back as Mysterion; that made him grow frustrated and tired earlier than expected so he just returned home and stumbled to sleep still in his outfit, not giving a shit about anything or actually trying to convince himself that he doesn't give a shit about anything; just focusing in sleep the whole night and the whole day if necessary.

But of course something always comes up, this time it was that freaking and fucked up doppelganger that came to haunt his dreams like a stalker, pulling all that stupid shit on him. Just his mind playing tricks, remembering stupid thing after stupid thing to keep him restless. Now, he just woke up and feels even more exhausted than he did before, all the turmoil of that nightmare hitting him full force. Why things have to be always so complicated? Sometimes he wished he could be as uncaring and cynical as Cartman, in that case he wouldn't have to be dwelling in things for so long. Right now he's still dwelling in everything the doppelganger said and feels like a complete stupid for letting the kid's words get under his skin.

 _You can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped_

The words repeated themselves in Kenny's head as he winced, remembering when Butters ran away from him all of the sudden. There must be a reason, there's always a reason and even when he doesn't know what it is, he still wants to help Butters. Today isn't snowing that hard so the Stotches would send him to school for sure. As Kenny, he might be able to finally ask if he's been having sequels, and comfort him if he has a breakdown and starts talking nonsense about things getting worse. Kenny may not be able to take the sickness away but he's not useless; he can help, he can keep the boy happy until he gets over this damned illness on his own. Of course he can help; why the hell he listened to that freaking doppelganger in first place? He talks a lot of bullshit, but sure enough knows how to hit a nerve.

After lazily dressing himself and kissing his mother, he arrived to school a bit late but for sure he was still on time, and by the way he could just crawl in and Mr. Garrison wouldn't really care. Approaching his locker he spotted a sunny blond head standing a few feet away, Butters stood beside his own locker grabbing some things for the class.

"Hey Leo"  
He greeted upon approaching, and it took a few seconds for Butters to turn and look at him, but before he could open his mouth and greet back an angered shout caught their attention, it came from Mr. Garrison's classroom just a few meters away. Everyone in the hallways turned their heads to glance that way, it took a moment for Kenny to realize what it was; it sounded like Cartman screaming bullshit out of anger; apparently Butters also noticed it as well as Stan and Kyle, whom were standing closer to the classroom and listened to what he was saying.

"It's been like, six years and you're still a mentally abusive slut! Can't you go and bug someone else?!"

Well, for his raised tone it wasn't that difficult to understand what the brunet was saying since he always wants to be the main focus. Nevertheless, Kenny listened along everyone as the quarrel continued.

"I'm just trying to help you, Eric!"

Ah. He recognized that voice. Sure enough, Cartman finally stomped off the classroom, all the way fuming with anger as Heidi tailed along looking upset but concerned as well.

"No, you're just being a nosy and manipulative bitch! Will you never change?!"

He asked, pointing at the girl as she folded her arms over her chest; scowl deepening as Eric's words really hurt her, people noticed this as some stared at the growing argument with narrowed brows, pity in their eyes when they stared at Heidi.

"And will you never listen to me?!"

She exclaimed, frustrated more than anything as Cartman just let out an exasperated groan and rolled his eyes.

"Get a life, bitch"

He finally spat out, voice full of venom as he stomped away from Heidi, people getting out of his way but their gazes never leaving him as he walked past them with loud footsteps, irritation evident on his face so no one really dared to say anything aloud about how he just left the girl with a heartbroken expression; most of them just whispering quietly among themselves. Yet, when he was already a bit far from the crowd someone called out from behind.

"Cartman!"  
This made Eric stop for a minute and turn his head slightly, gritting his teeth and with an obvious scowl plastered on his face, but it softened when he noticed the owner of that voice was Kyle; the redhead was still beside Stan and looked at Cartman with upset, but also concerned emerald green eyes. He tilted his head to one side gesturing to where Heidi stood, probably trying to silently make him realize that what he did was wrong, That Heidi probably didn't deserve that; but turning around again Cartman just continued until he turned around a corner and disappeared in the hallways.

When he was lost of sight, Everyone immediately started to chat and gossip loudly about what happened, while Heidi just sigued and reentered the classroom; shoulders slumped in defeat as she's never been able to get Eric to listen. Stan looked her way with some pity, while the redhead continued to stare the way Cartman just left from, still upset with the fatass for being so ruthless with the girl. Kenny sighed as well, like Stan feeling bad for the nice girl that for some reason still tries to put up with Cartman, even when they're not dating anymore.

"Poor Heidi, Eric says she's abusive and all, but maybe that was a bit too much"

Butters' voice broke in, as he stared the place where Heidi stood with furrowed eyebrows, holding his sketch book close to his chest. He's still too naive and believes all the bullshit Cartman said about his ex, but nevertheless he'll always be the innocent one that worries about everyone; be it good people, bad people, someone like Cartman, a hobo, a complete stranger; no matter who he always cares. Kenny shrugged; there's nothing they can do since Eric is such a jerk, maybe this would finally make Heidi forget about him and leave behind their past, rocky relationship.

"You know how's the fatass, maybe this time Heidi can finally ditch him and look for a better guy"  
He tried to reassure his friend, even when he already knew that the girl is always too fixated in being beside Cartman and help him like a good girlfriend would, even when they aren't dating anymore. A moment passed, and Butters finally nodded slowly and turned to look at Kenny who immediately noticed the dark circles under his eyes and how his skin looked paler than usual. He looked tired; maybe even more than Kenny himself, but that's just because the immortal already knows how to conceal it while his friend generally looks cheerful and sunny. For a moment, Ken said nothing but then, he grinned.

"You stayed up watching cartoons again, Buttercup?"  
He asked, leaning towards the boy and whispering the next part.  
"Or maybe... You watched something else?"

It took a minute for Butters to finally comprehend what the taller blond was insinuating, until he blushed slightly and shook his head frantically.  
"N-No! I... I just couldn't sleep, that's all!"

He mouthed quickly, making Ken chuckle and ruffle the spiky mess that was his friends' hair. He loved to get that reaction out of Butters, it reminded him how innocent the boy is.  
"I'll believe you, just this once"

He conceded, knowing full well that Butters most likely couldn't sleep after he freaked out on Mysterion and his parents most likely grounded him because of the lost groceries, but right now he had to put a smile on his friend's face. Talking about his sickness and pressing him to know how he's feeling will only bring him down. Just like when the boy was in the hospital, Kenny has to smile at him and not lose the positivism no matter what. Butters looked up at him with a shy smile, still tired eyes but he was smiling. How couldn't he smile at his playful and caring parka wearing friend? That's enough to suggest Kenny he's doing a good job so far.

They headed for the classroom not soon after, and after greeting Stan and Kyle they took their usual seats. The raven still looked concerned, every now and then shooting a glance to Heidi's seat, her gaze was down and unfocused as she had her hands folded over her lap. In the other hand, the redhead looked lost in though as he flipped through his notebook's pages absent-mindedly. He was probably wondering why Cartman and Heidi argued this time; as well as thinking of where the hell the fatass went since the class was about to start and he's still nowhere to be found. Kenny watched at Stan finally stood from his seat and went over to the glum looking girl.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly but his concern could be noticed, Heidi just nodded, still looking down. "Never mind Cartman, you know he's a jerk" he tried to reassure, as Kyle spoke up from his seat as well.

"Yeah, he's stupid and childish. Don't let his words get to you"

Said him, more than anything sounding upset at the brunet. Looking over both the super best friends, Heidi finally sighed in defeat, brows still droopy. "Thank you guys, but... This time, it was my fault. I pressed Eric too much, he has all the right to be upset"

The raven and the redhead spared a worried glance at each other, knowing full well that this is pretty useless. Heidi was probably a lost cause by now, after trying so much to remain by Eric's side and putting up with all his shit. They were curious as to what she was talking about right now, but chose to not pry any further and let her be. After all there's nothing they can do about the girl and right now she needs her space. Getting back to his seat beside Kyle, the best friends could only watch as Wendy and Bebe took their seats beside her and put their hands over Heidi's shoulders in a silent reassure. Kenny and Butters watched as well, not daring to say a word and letting the girls handle it.

The bell finally rang, and the class started but Cartman never came back. He must probably be sulking and talking bullshit about Heidi somewhere else, probably with his mother; generally when the fatass wants to complain and have someone to hear him that person is usually Butters, the boy just can't say no to Eric as he considers the brunet a friend as well. A manipulative, jerkish and cynical friend; but by now everyone is already used to it.

During the class no one was really focused and preferred to chat and gossip about Heidi and Cartman, and Kenny just listened not pretty interested yet he noticed how Butters seemed to be drawn to the subject. Of course the sunny blond boy would have loved for them to solve their problems and Cartman to be happy with probably the only girl in the world willing to put up with his annoying ass, but reality was pretty different as the fatass considered the girl to be nosy and unstable. Kenny wondered if that's because he's just a jerk or due to his inexperience with relationships. The orange clad knew first hand that relationships are unstable, rocky, and there are never good break ups. Stan knows that as well, that's why he chose to not go back with Wendy and stay as friends. That way both of them won't have to suffer a painful break up and then Stan won't have to be sad and join the goth guys again. No one could deny that Wendy is a nice girl... When she's not ditching Stan like a bitch, but everyone has their ups and downs. Just like relationships, they have ups and downs, they may be full of shit sometimes and your couple may drive you insane, but Kenny has always though that what really matters are the ups. If there are enough good things, the relationship is worth it. Like when he died of that sexual illness after the blowjob Tammy gave him; yeah, it wasn't very cool to die but the blowjob was completely worth it.

Kenny doesn't really know if the "happiness" Cartman may give Heidi is worth all the shit he's put her through, but nevertheless it's not his place to say.

* * *

Once the class ended, like always he and his friends stayed after everyone left, except for the fact that this time around the redhead and the fatass weren't arguing since Cartman isn't here. Instead Butters could finally join them, at least until he and Kenny had to leave for art club.

"Aren't you going to debate today?"

Asked Stan casually, as he and Butters watched how Kyle packed his books while Kenny rested his head on his desk and glanced up with tired eyes.

"No, Ike is having a test tomorrow and mom wants me to tutor him"  
Answered the redhead, getting up after collecting his stuff and ready to go until Stan's voice stopped him.  
"You can do that later, why don't you come to football practice and exercise yourself for a change?"  
Asked him, hoping for his friend to at least consider it. Kyle's always been fixated in debate because he could kick everyone's ass, but even when the redhead would never admit it, everything became secondary when he and Cartman could have as much arguments as they wanted. Of course it was enjoyable to beat a smart person like Wendy in the debates, but beating Cartman... It was priceless. They all knew that today going to debate wasn't that appealing since Kyle already finds dull to just outsmart everyone, so Stan tried to take this chance to convince his bestie into tagging along for the team practice. There are nice dudes in the team like Kevin, and Clyde, and sometimes Craig also joins when he's not helping Tweek at the coffeehouse, but of course it's not the same without his super best friend.

"You know I am more of basket than football, Stan. Besides, I'm going to exercise myself"  
Said the redhead, then proceeded to stretch out both legs and make a kicking motion with the right one. "I have a baby to kick"  
Stan just huffed, already knowing that there was no convincing his friend.

"That's not exercise, that's bullying"

"Nah, Ike loves playing kick the baby"  
Answered Kyle with a grin; Ike still insisted that he's already too old to be playing that, but at this point there's no stopping the redhead even when that game is kind of cruel.  
"See you guys later"  
Finally said the Jewish boy, waving at his raven friend and Kenny, and ruffling Butters' hair before leaving.

"You two are going to art class today?"  
Asked Stan, both blondes nodded.

"Hamburgers, I still have to finish Kenny's portrait"  
Exclaimed Butters, rubbing his knuckles as he recalled the painting he was working on a few days ago but never got the chance to finish.  
"Portrait? Did you paint Kenny naked and eating fruit or something?"  
Questioned the raven jokingly, and to be honest Kenny wouldn't really mind posing naked and with a bowl of fruit like Butters' muse.

"Nope, it's just that I'm tryin' to make it more detailed than usual"  
The small blond explained with a small smile, making both Stan and Kenny hum in though.  
"Is that even possible?"  
Both Ken and Butters shrugged their shoulders.

"That's why I'm tryin'"  
Smiling slightly, Stan grabbed his own backpack and patted the boy's shoulder before heading for the door.  
"Well, good luck with that"  
He said as he left as well, Butters reaching out for his stuff and dedicating his parka wearing friend a smile. He still looked tired, but at least he seemed happy.

"Let's go"  
Kenny hummed in agreement, lazily pushing himself up from his resting stance over the desk and taking his backpack for art class.

* * *

The class was cheerful as always, while the teacher seemed absent-minded as she texted with her phone, everyone else could chat, gossip, and paint whatever the hell they felt like. Even when it was always pretty noisy as no one really bothered to keep themselves quiet, Kenny didn't really mind as he lazily brushed his canvas Actually, hearing all those loud voices seemed to keep him at ease by now, silence would be too much worse. Across him, Butters continued to work on his own portrait but the orange clad knew his small friend wasn't quite focused unlike other days. Every now and then he tilted his head to one side, like trying to catch a glimpse of something. His gaze seemed to be searching for something behind Ken, so the taller blond eventually turned his head out of curiosity; among the people bundled together and chatting he managed the sight of a reddish head with a purple flower. Heidi. Oh right, he forgot the girl attended to art class with them, she used to spend her afternoons with the cheerleaders but after the whole skankhunt mess and the fact that she dated Cartman the girls shunned her for a while. They went back to hang out together, but she didn't go back to her old habits of being vain and spoiled. To be honest, it was kind of impressive how a popular girl like her changed so much in such a short time just because of a throll.

She still looked down, not really able to focus in her own canvas while Butters glanced her way with worried eyes that told Kenny everything.

"You should go and talk to her"  
Said Ken out of the blue, and this seemed to caught the small blond out of guard, probably not having realized how obvious he was with his concern. Yet, he just downed his gaze and rubbed his knuckles. Kenny understood he surely wanted to go and cheer the girl up, but was still hesitant after all the shit Cartman said about her being a manipulative bitch and all. Besides, both Heidi and Eric foiled the movement Butters started against girls all those years back; it was stupid and he did it out of frustration, but they never talked about it so the boy may still be unsure of how to approach Heidi.

"...I dunno, what if she just wants to be alone right now?"  
Answered him sheepishly after pondering for a few seconds. Kenny shrugged; maybe he was right and she needed her space to think about what happened, but he's never been one to just sit and watch. He always preferred to take action or else he'll grow restless; that's another reason for becoming Mysterion.

"Maybe, but we could at least try to cheer her up"  
For a moment, Butters didn't say a word but he finally nodded with a smile. Probably having Kenny there as well gave him enough confidence. Not soon after they moved from their spots with their portraits to go and sit closer to the girl, who still watched her almost blank canvas; not bringing herself to come up with a good painting.

"Hey" Greeted Kenny, waving at her while Butters by his side smiled. "Hi" said him. Heidi blinked at them before speaking up. "Oh, hello guys" She tried to smile like Butters, but seemingly failed as her brows dropped again and her gaze shifted from watching them to watch her own hands folded over her lap, just like she did back in the classroom. Yet, to their surprise she continued to speak.

"You haven't seen Eric, have you?"  
She asked with a worried tone, both blondes shook their heads no.  
"Not since this morning" Added Ken, making Heidi sigh.

"Though so, but I hoped he would come back and talk with his friends"  
Pseudo friends actually, but oh, who cares at this point? Besides she seemed disappointed to hear he hasn't come back.  
"He may be still upset about your quarrel, but he'll come back soon so you two can make up"  
Chimed in Butters, trying to sound positive for the girl's sake.

"Yeah, you know he always wants to make a big show out of everything"  
Reassured the parka wearing blond matter-of-factly. That's kind of how things work around South Park, people usually make a big fuss out of everything, but in the end the whole thing ends brushed off and later forgotten. Like all the weird and supernatural shit usually happens around, it always ends forgotten and everyone keeps living on like nothing ever happened. Ignorance is bliss, they say.

"I'm not really sure"  
Heidi admitted, looking down.  
"Back when we dated, that was the case but now I doubt he'll just let it slip. Eric's always been one to hold a grudge"  
Well, that was true. Kenny still remembers when Cartman got mad at Heidi for sending Stan the voice mail in which he claimed to be about to commit suicide. He wouldn't let the girl live with that for months, even when they were dating he often brought it up and forced her to help him raise the suicide awareness in town. It wasn't fair that Heidi had to put up with the brunet even after she specifically made Stan promise he wouldn't make public the voice mail, but it was kind of worth it. Cartman sounded like a swine about to be turned into ham.

"And after I pressed him too hard, he'll be too mad to even talk to me"  
She finished, Butters and Kenny exchanging curious glares. Sure enough Cartman is childish and wouldn't deal with this like a normal person, he'll always be immature until the very end. But now, they were left wondering what Heidi did.

"You pressed him? How?"  
Asked Butters innocently. The girl closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them to look at both blondes straight in the eye.

"Can I trust you to keep this as a secret? Just between the three of us?"  
Her words were gentle, but firm. It was obvious that she's being dead serious right now, specially after she made Stan promise to no avail years back, no one could really blame her to be hesitant in trusting again. Both Butters and Kenny nodded frantically, already growing restless to know more.

"We won't say a thing" Said Butters firmly.

"Lips sealed" added Kenny, making a gesture over his lips that suggested he was zipping them up so no words will escape.

Nodding firmly, Heidi seemed to be convinced enough to place her trust on them. Both boys watched her, as she took a few seconds to speak, looking down at her hands all along.

"...Maybe I shouldn't talk about this, but you're Eric's friends so you may be able to help him more than I"  
They both listened intently as Heidi's voice was lowered, but despite the loud chatter of the students around them, everything seemed to go deaf to their ears as they were just too focused. Everyone loves a good gossip, after all.

"Ever since we first dated, we both tried to change for better and leave behind our past selves. It worked for a while, but eventually Eric went back to who he was. I can't really blame him, but I still wished for us to be happy together like at the beginning"

She paused to sigh.

"...But he was too attached to his old self, and even when I tried so hard to keep up with our relationship, we just couldn't. Now, I know it was because Eric has always been in love with someone else. That's why he couldn't bring himself to love me back"

The blond friends exchanged a glance again, growing more curious with each second.

"But even so, I want to help him in any way I can! I know he's been in denial, so I tried to talk things out with him so he could at least come to terms with his feelings, but he got really upset because I was being too noisy about it"

She said, probably upset at herself as well for screwing things up with Cartman.  
"I really pressed him into dealing with his feelings. Maybe I should have left him alone to deal with it at his own pace, but I really wanted to help"  
The girl finally lifted her gaze to meet both Butters' and Kenny's blue eyes with her own emerald green hues.

"I can't tell you guys who he has feelings for, maybe you've noticed it as well but I really don't want to talk about it behind Eric's back. But as his friends, I think he'll be willing to open himself up to you; even if just a little bit"  
She said, voice full of determination as she balled her hands into fists.

"You think so?"  
Asked Kenny, slightly tilting his head to one side. The girl just nodded firmly.

"Yes, sometimes he can get pretty emotional"  
True to be told. Despite generally a jerk, Cartman can turn from being tall and proud to be a sobbing mess, and from being frustrated to be gleeful or just to return being... Cartman. He's an unstable person, to say the least.

"Can you please try and talk things out with him? I bet he'll feel better if he just lets it out"

It was kind of a difficult request, knowing Cartman he'll blow anyone off and make fun of them for just trying to help, mainly to Butters since the boy would for sure approach him kindly and that'll just promp the fatass to call him fag or pansy or some stupid insult. But heck, how could they say no to those huge, full of concern, deep green eyes the girl was using to stare at them with? Of course that finally made both of them nod, and Heidi smiled at them with a tiny, grateful smile.

"We'll try"  
Reassured Butters, Kenny could only nod not really too sure about this, but neither wanting to let the girl down. The girl's smile grew a bit, as she turned her gaze to finally focus on the almost untouched canvas.  
"Thank you"  
She muttered, just these two words carried so much relief and gratitude that neither of them could say something else, they just fell silent for what could have been seconds or minutes. Butters rubbing his knuckles all the while, looking like he wanted to say something else until he spoke up.

"Umm.. Weren't you angry when you found out Eric likes someone else?"

He asked, innocently curious more than anything. To their surprise, the girl's smile didn't falter as she actually began to work in her painting.

"Not really, I mean it was disappointing to realize he doesn't love me but I never felt mad about it. To be honest, I kind of suspected it from the beginning"  
She conceded, as her portrait started to take shape; it was Cartman. He grinned widely and wasn't wearing his distinctive sky blue beanie, instead Heidi was trying to paint every detail of his messily combed brown hair.  
"But that didn't change the fact that I loved Eric, and I still want to help him"

Heidi finished, as Butters and Kenny watched in awe, both for her confession and the realistic style her portrait had. The green eyed girl claimed several times before that she loved Cartman, they kissed and used endearments such as "honey", "babe" and the likes, but right now they could feel how she meant every word as they came from the bottom of her heart. She was too nice for her own good; Eric would never thank her for everything she did for him and at this point they'll most likely never go back together, but both blondes preferred to let her be. If that's what makes her happy, so be it.

They didn't say anything else for the rest of the class until Heidi finished her portrait and left. Even an artist with a natural gift like Butters had to admit she did a pretty nice job, her skills were usually just a bit above the average, but she had something for drawing Eric that made every painting of him look fucking realistic except for the tender smile she put on his face, even when it was totally off character for the fatass. Kenny's seen him smile like that a handful of times, though. Generally at Kyle when the Jewish boy helped him or something, even when the redhead never did it on purpose.

Butters and Kenny continued absent-minded with their own work, still pondering Heidi's words and dwelling in what she said about helping Cartman.

"I just don't get it"  
Snapped Butters out of the blue, letting down the hand that held unto his brush soaked in paint and catching Kenny's attention.  
"Eric was so harsh at Heidi and never really loved her, but she's still fixated in helping him any way she can"

The small blond said, voice down as he really felt sorry for the girl; who wouldn't? She's been living with an unrequited love for years, and with no real possibilities of it changing any time soon. The orange clad shrugged his shoulders and closed his eyes, indicating that he had no idea of why Heidi did that, either.

"She must really love him, I guess"

Butters let out in a voice just above a whisper, and Ken had to held back the urge to scoff; that's not love, it's called Stockholm syndrome and it's a real shit that messes with your head and leaves you so screwed that you barely acknowledge what really makes you happy anymore. It's already too late for Heidi, she's not chained to Cartman anymore but as long as the fatass is happy and puffed with ego; that seems to be just enough for her to be happy.

"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that the fatass already likes someone else"  
The orange clad retorted, voice firm but it could be heard that he also felt bad for the poor girl. Then, something snapped in his head; Cartman actually loves someone. Like, for real. Heidi was serious about it so it must be a really real love and not a crush for some celebrity or something. The first though that crossed his mind was that Eric might be in love with himself; something that immediately got discarded because everyone already knows that.

"Who do you think it might be?" asked off handedly the taller blond, making Butters hum for a few seconds. He seemed genuinely thinking about it even when it seemed kind of obvious for Ken.  
"...Maybe Wendy?"  
It was a good guess, actually, but Kenny wasn't that convinced. They have had some friction before, but there's just not enough proof in comparison to who the immortal has in mind.

"I don't think so, they haven't argued in quite a time. Besides, I kind of have an idea of who might be"  
He grinned upon watching how Butters' sky blue eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly as he leaned forward to listen closely to his friend.  
"Who?"  
He said in a not really hushed whisper, suddenly interested to know more than anything. With a low chuckle, Kenny leaned in as well until he was inches apart from Butters in order to whisper not very quietly. This is supposed to be something they should discuss in private, but who cares? This is Cartman they were talking about over here, nothing about him is really private.

"...I think it's Kyle"  
There, he said it and it actually feels like the most obvious thing in the damn world. Who didn't see it coming? After all those years of quarreling Kenny was sure the fatass has some sort of fondness towards their Jewish friend, but no one really chose to bring it up because it would be awkward and the brunet will only deny it over and over again.

But apparently Butters didn't see it before, as his mouth made a perfect and surprised "O" while his eyes couldn't be anymore wide. It looked pretty comical, actually.  
"Really?!"  
He whisper-yelled, and Kenny nodded with a grin.

"Think about it, besides Heidi who's the one that usually puts up with Cartman's ego?"

"His mom"  
Answered Butters quickly, making Kenny roll his eyes but his grin never going away.  
"Besides his mom and Heidi"

The smaller blond hummed just for a moment. "You do, and Stan and Kyle and 'cause we're friends"

Kenny nodded.  
"Yeah, we do but from all of us who's the one that takes more shit from Cartman?"

Realization seemed to hit Butters.  
"...Kyle, cuz they're always arguing"  
He muttered almost to himself, Ken noticed that his friend was probably slightly shocked after realizing something that had always been there, but he probably refused to acknowledge.

"Exactly, and who's the one Cartman always seems fixated in harassing to no end?"

"Kyle!"  
Butters exclaimed almost immediately, the shock wearing out and surprise finally taking place, his raised voice drawing the attention of some students; luckily they quickly brushed it off so Kenny could continue.

"Yeah, they may be enemies and stuff, but if you look closely it's almost like they can't live without each other. Even today, Kyle probably though debate wouldn't be really funny without Cartman, and we know that the fatass finds everything dull if he doesn't have Kyle to piss off"  
Ken recounted, Butters humming pensively.

"But they say they hate each other, and sometimes they get in pretty bad fights"  
The boy pointed out, remembering every time both the brunet and the redhead almost killed each other and got involved into some fucked up situations because of their stupid arguments. Kenny just shrugged his shoulders.

"That's kind of how love is sometimes, Cartman can say he hates Kyle for being Jewish and ginger and all that shit, but if he really enjoys their arguments and has willingly decided he can't live without Kyle; that's another way of loving someone"

The immortal explained much to Butters' awe, the smaller blond probably knew about the adorable and young love that consists in two people caring about each other deeply, exchanging lovely words and butterfly kisses. There's a lot other ways to love, tough love, harsh love, but in the end they always lead to two people not being able to live without one another. Kenny knows this first hand after not only seeing his parents' fights over drugs and later making up to manage their meth lab, but also watching Stan's parents as they were about to get divorced but eventually learnt they couldn't live without the other. He couldn't really blame Butters for being naive, though, his only real relationship was that one with that Canadian girl that couldn't keep up with their romance at distance.

"I never saw it that way before, I sort of though it was just rivalry"  
Butters admitted, looking down and maybe feeling ashamed for not having realized it before.

"Me too, but to be honest I kind of suspected it all along like Heidi. Actually, I don't think Cartman himself is aware of his feelings; that must be why Heidi felt like she had to do something"

After the parka blond said that, the bell rung and the students starting getting up and leave their projects aside, almost automatically both blondes stood to grab their stuff.

"Now, I feel like we have to do something as well"  
Butters said, stuffing in his backpack his sketch book and the few brushes he owned, but still looking down with worried eyes. Kenny put a hand over his shoulder to give it a light, reassuring squeeze and make him look up with those concerned but tired blue hues.

"This is Cartman we're talking about, so there's nothing we can do until he takes the stick out of his ass"  
He joked with a smile to reassure his small, sunny blond friend, who nodded in acknowledgement. Even when they promised Heidi, go straight to the business will only make Eric feel pressed and may even give away the fact that Heidi spilled the whole thing, honestly she didn't deserve to be insulted by Cartman anymore. Eventually, the moment for them to meddle will come, but right now it's not their place. Even when Butters wished to help more than anything.

"So..." dragged out Kenny, trying to change the subject and brighten up things a bit.  
"Do you want to watch the Marvel movie everyone is talking about? Stan and Kyle have been wanting to spoil me the whole thing, I don't know how long they'll last without spilling everything"  
He asked quickly, looking directly at Butters with hopeful eyes. He really wanted to watch it, particularly Stan seems to be about to explode with how much he wants to talk about the movie and give Kenny the spoiler of his life. Much to his hopes, his smaller friend scowled and looked down.

"I can't, mom and dad grounded me"  
He admitted sadly, making Kenny throw his head back and groan in frustration. The Stotches always had under the sleeve some stupid reason to ground their only child.  
"What for?"  
Butters got noticeably nervous as he began to rub his knuckles, trying to focus his gaze on anywhere else.

"They sent me to buy a few groceries yesterday, but I dropped them on my way back"

Kenny's eyes widened almost immediately. The bag groceries Butters dropped when he panicked and ran away, just like the immortal though they ended grounding him no matter how much he tried to explain. Now, he feels like the one to blame since he kind of startled Butters back then. Noticing how his orange clad friend got suddenly quiet, the sunny blond boy felt sort of bad for disappointing him like that, yet an idea came to his mind.

"But if you want to, we could watch it at my house in the laptop. I think mom won't mind"  
He offered with a small smile, snapping Kenny from his thoughs and making him hum; it sounded pretty nice but Butters' parents could be a pain in the ass more often than not, reminding their son that he isn't allowed to do this or that because he's grounded. They could always go to the movies and no one will ever find out!

"She's making spaghetti today, you can have some if you want"  
The Inmortal's gaze suddenly shifted forwards, eyes widening as he leaned closer to Butters.

"Now we're talking my idiom!"

He chimed in, a wide grin spread through his face; Butters shooting back a sheepish, but seemingly satisfied smile. Of course it was such a dirty trick to get a man from his stomach; who can say no to spaghetti? He practically had Kenny eating from the palm of his hand, and he had to admit it felt good.

* * *

Grabbing their remaining stuff and after Kenny made a quick call to Karen to reassure her he'll bring some spaghetti, they made their way to Butters' house not so far away. Luckily today his dad was working and Linda didn't really mind having Kenny over. She could actually be nice when she's not so strict, actually. And of course her food was mouth watering; Kenny was honestly starting to think that she got Stephen's heart with her food rather than with her looks. Apparently, that seemed to be what Cartman's mom did to get so many stands; being nice, cooking a good, sweet smelling meal, and that's enough to convince anyone. That's why conquering a man's heart with food is so successful but also really unfair. Kenny himself wouldn't mind marrying someone with mental issues if he gets to eat nicely every day, to be honest.

Already in Butters' room, said boy left to get their spaghetti while Kenny absent-mindedly flicked through the laptop to see which movies he's downloaded; they were a ton, Butters can get in serious troubles for downloading that content for free, but like hell people woukd care about that. Putting the laptop aside, he stood from the seat he took over his friend's bed and moved his eyes across the room; it hadn't really changed with the years, some posters there and there along with the picture of the panda hanging from the nail in the wall, some toys messily arranged and stacked, and that stain in the floor-

 _Is that blood?_

Bellow the window, a dark brown, circular stain with some splotches around seemed to taint the clean carpet that covered the floor. Kenny's seen blood enough times before to know that's how it looks when it's not cleaned soon enough and eventually dries, leaving an ugly stain that will never be gone. Dammit, he was starting to repeat the doppelganger's words.

What happened there? Did Butters got hurt? Did he trip? Did his parents... Beat him enough to make him bleed? Not necessarily, Butters really doesn't need anyone's help to get hurt; besides for all Kenny knows the Stotches have never hurt him intentionally or as a punishment, his mother trying to drown him in the bathtub was a slip of her sanity. They were more focused in the psychological trauma of grounding him for every single mistake rather than in the physical one; the only one that actually got physical with the boy was his bitchy grandma, but after putting up with her old ass for so many years Butters already learned how to deal with her. Kenny actually never got many details about that, though.

His train of thoughts was interrupted by the click of the door as Kenny turned his head to see Butters enter with two bowls full of yummy looking spaghetti, closing the door behind him with a light kick as he set the bowls in the night stand.

"Hey Ken, mom went out for a while but left more spaghetti in the fridge so you can share with Karen and your parents"

He smiled, always the considerate one, but then it got replaced by a curious look as he noticed Kenny standing beside the window, beside the stain in the floor to be more precise. His eyes scanned down and eventually found out what seemed to catch his friend's glare.

"...Oh, that?" he scowled for a minute, but it was quickly gone. "That's where I tripped and hurt my head weeks ago, then mom found me and called an ambulance" The sunny blond boy explained, reaching out to put a hand over the spot in his forehead were the bleeding bruise used to be not long ago. That made sense, but now Kenny wondered if he tripped while trying to escape from the window or something. Rebellious Butters? Doesn't sound likely, but we all have a rebellious side, and with how often he's grounded it's not a surprise that he eventually grew tired and started to wish for some freedom.

Both boys took a seat back in the bed, Kenny lifting his hand to put it over Butters' that was still on his forehead.

"How's it been lately?"

He asked, but when his hand touched Butters' he could feel how it suddenly got paralyzed. It felt like his hand suddenly turned into solid, heavy rock and wasn't able to move anymore, every muscle going still like a statue. His eyes widened a bit and he furrowed his brows in confusion as he tried to move his fingers to no avail, the sinews weren't responding at all. Heck, his whole hand felt numb almost as if the blood weren't circulating at all.

 _What the fuck?_

Butters didn't seem to notice how Kenny got still, as he continued to talk normally.  
"It doesn't really hurt anymore"  
He replied, eyes darting to the once bruised spot and rubbing it lightly, however he then noticed Kenny's expression and the way he kept himself perfectly still, hand lifted and inches apart from Butters, yet unmoving.

"Kenny?"  
He asked, confusion on his face; his voice seemed to break in whatever trance the orange clad blond was in, as he forced his hand down to let it lay on his side again. It must be an stupid cramp, it will be over soon. "Butters..." he muttered. "...That smells incredible" Tilting his head to one side, he glanced over the dishes with spaghetti. Butters let out an small "oh" sound and took one bowl to place it over Kenny's lap. It looked so damn delicious.

"Bon appetite"  
The smaller blond said with a slight bow, The immortal rubbed his hands together and grinned, already salivating over the whole thing.  
"Oh la la, Greek food!"  
He exclaimed, earning a chuckle from Butters.

"Mexican, actually"  
Kenny was about to wonder why, until he stuffed his mouth with as much as he could and was surprised by the spicy taste of the sauce; someone with a weaker palate would have spit the meal with a burned tongue, but at this point the orange clad doesn't care anymore and can just focus in how actually delicious it actually is, even if wincing every now and then.  
"Yep, it's Mexican"  
He conceded while munching gleefully, the Mexican flavor of the spicy sauce with chili being easily noticeable.

"I know it's spicy; but I like it, so mom cooks it often"  
Said Butters, grabbing his own bowl full of spaghetti. Even when the boy looked sweet as honey and soft as butter (pun totally intended), Kenny knows his friend enough to realize he has a guilty pleasure over spicy food, it might be due that time in which he ended in Mexico for some reason. Butters made kind of a reputation for himself there, people praising him often and calling him _mantequilla_ boy or something; needless to say he ate a lot of spicy dishes back there and somehow grew fond of them, that must be why his mother still cooks Mexican food from time to time. Nevertheless, he ate it happily with Butters not soon after joining.

"I'm going to marry your mom, Leo~"

Ken sang, dangling his legs like a child as said boy giggled. The woman is not that much sane, but at the hell with that if she knows how to cook and uses it to keep her bisexual husband by her side. They spent a few minutes in silence, until Butters spoke in a low voice.

"...Why do you do that?"  
He asked out of the blue, smile not fading as he didn't take his eyes from his food. The orange clad hummed, mouth still stuffed.

"Call me by my real name, I mean. No one else really does that, not even my parents"  
Butters explained as Kenny finished to swallow and shrugged.

"I dunno. You don't like it?"  
He asked with the head tilted to one side, as his friend just shook his head quickly.

"No, I actually like my full name and Leo as well, but no one ever uses it besides you"  
He looked down for a moment, a bit disappointed but Kenny could tell he really appreciated being called that by him. It's like, their thing! Everyone has their own thing, like Stan sometimes calling Kyle "Ky" and Cartman calling him jew or ginger. Well, that wasn't the best example.

"Don't tell me you suddenly dislike Butters, or Buttercup, or Butterscotch!"  
The taller blond said with a dramatic tone, exaggerating his surprise. Butters shook his head again.

"No, I like them! I like every variation of my name, it's just that I wish people would use my real name more often and alternate from my nicknames, like you do"  
The smaller blond added quickly, making Kenny snicker a bit. How could anyone dislike Butters? It sounded nice and adorable like the boy himself, besides the butter is soft and matches perfectly Leo's sunny blond hair.

"Awww, but then it wouldn't be so special when I do it"  
He answered, leaning his head in Butters' shoulder and trying to sound disappointed when he was actually teasing his small buddy.  
"Maybe"  
Admitted Butters sheepishly, a faint but noticeable pink growing over his cheeks. Kenny loved being the only one capable of doing that to his Butterscotch. He let out a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment as he rested beside his friend.

"I wish I could say the same about me, Kenny has to be the only name I actually like"  
Butters let out a gasp.  
"Really?!"  
The orange clad hummed positively in response.  
"Yeah, Kenneth seems kind of too formal and Ken sounds like I'm Barbie's boyfriend"

Butters snorted a laugh in response, covering his mouth as the immortal grinned at his own joke.  
"But I like Ken"  
Answered the sunny blond, making Kenny roll his eyes.

"I liked it at first, but then I got tired of everyone asking 'Hey Ken, where's Barbie?' and I responding 'She's in Malibu, fingering herself'"

They both laughed at that, Butters more sheepishly and trying to keep it quiet but he couldn't deny that Kenny's dirty jokes were pretty good, the movie they were supposed to watch already forgotten, but in the end the whole point of this was to spend time with Butters and cheer him up, any trace of him feeling sick or tired seemed gone by as he joked and laughed with his friend.

"Speaking of which..."  
Ken commented as he pushed himself from Butters' shoulder to look at him.  
"We should go to Hawaii again, during spring break"

He watched how Butters' face immediately lit up, smile widening at the mention of the place he regarded so fondly.  
"You think so?"  
He asked and Kenny nodded.

"You could act as if you're freaking out like last time to convince your parents, then we'll spend the whole break taking sun baths and surrounded by hot chicks"

His friend's smile only grew if that's possible, as he nodded quickly. Kenny has actually been wanting to ask Butters for a long time, despite how mad and freaked out the smaller blond was at first, they actually had a good time walking towards the sunset over the soft sand, sighting hotties and blending the "special mixture" Hawaiians like so much. Maybe this time he could even convince Butters to drink it as well; even when that thing is 90% alcohol and 10% other substances, so it would mean getting drunk underage, but who cares? In Hawaii people is supposed to drink their problems away and dance around a bonfire in the beach, even if that meant getting drunk and doing stupid things they'll later regret. Besides, he's seen Leo drunk before; it's like when Cartman drugged them both with that vagisil thingy to make themselves stupid and win Nascar; He turns so groggy and uses obscene words very lightly, like he just woke up and can't quite shake the sleep off himself. It's actually a very funny version of Butters to have around.

"I can't wait!"  
The sunny blond boy practically squealed happily, dangling his legs and almost bouncing the spaghetti bowl from his lap, but grabbed it quickly enough.

"Me neither"  
Replied the immortal, enjoying his friend's childish excitement. With school, Butters' sickness and Kenny's busy nights of patrol, they really deserved a break in a sunny beach rather than staying in South Park freezing their butts and taking all the shit that usually happens; maybe that's what he the smaller blond needs to stop being so sickly pale. Besides, Karen would spend her spring break with her group of friends and will always cheer her big brother up to spend some quality time with his best buddy. Although, spending time with Butters just like this, eating spaghetti and laughing together, is actually very nice as well. Specially since the smiles he regarded Kenny with are wide and genuine rather than small and tired, like the ones he gave back in the hospital when he wasn't really feeling well at all, but still tried to keep the optimist attitude like Kenny.

It made Ken smile as well, noticing how actually close the actually were, sitting beside each other with their bodies pressed after he leaned on Butters before. He couldn't help but take a moment to stare at his friend, noticing the faint dark circles under his eyes and his abnormally pale skin. Yet, his happiness seemed to lit his cheeks in a faint rosy color, he looked positive and cheery like always as his tiredness got completely forgot.

To be honest, Ken felt proud of himself. No one else can make Butters beam with happiness like he does, nothing else could make him feel better like this. Screw that stupid doppelganger and everything he said; of course he can help Butters, no matter what happens he'll always cheer the boy up in order to push away the sickness that's so deep inside him.

"Leo..."

He let out, voice low but still audible; he couldn't help how the words came out fondly as he admired the smile he's been missing for so long, when Butters returned to school he smiled genuinely as well but this was different. This is the kind of fond smile he just gives Kenny, the one that irradiated happiness like a sun and is so damn contagious, Kenny just can't tear his eyes away from it. Every other though seemed so far away as the orange clad absent-mindedly reached out move away a strand of sunny blond hair that often got in the middle of Butters eyes; his hand's paralysis already gone by.

But then, he noticed it.

Butters had closed his eyes to smile, and now he could notice it clearly with how close he was. The scar on his left eye, it was more evident as it ran over his eyelid as well. It could generally be seen, but everyone usually brushed it off as it eventually blended with the color of his skin after so many years. Yet, upon closer look it hasn't really changed at all; it's still the same size of the ninja shuriken that pierced his small socket when he was such a small child. Kenny couldn't help but stare, smile fading as he remembered when his kid doppelganger showed him the footage of every memory, every time he tried to apologize and wished he could change things or make up for it in some way.

Dammit. He stopped feeling bad about that a long time ago, he came to terms with the fact that Butters forgave him, but now it's coming back to bite him in the ass no matter how much he tried to convince himself that it's in the past. He tried to look away, scowl already forming as Leo opened his eyes and hummed in confusion.

"Kenny?"  
He asked with a concerned voice, said teen tried to push that thoughs away and open his mouth to reassure his friend that he was okay, but suddenly he was struck by a voice that echoed in his head.

 _Try with bleacher, bicarbonate, you pick one! No matter how hard you try to wipe things clean, the stain of your mistakes will never be gone~!_

As soon as his doppelganger's words repeated like a broken record, he felt the strong headache they carried. It's almost as if they pulsate in his head over and over again, weighting on him and making him wince, letting out a pained growl and gritting his teeth to Butters' surprise and later pure concern.

"Kenny, are you okay?"  
He reached out to put his hand over his friend's forehead in a attempt to check his temperature, brushing away gently the dirty blond locks of uneven hair from his face, this seemed to snap Kenny from the pain to look over Butters' worried, big blue eyes.  
"I-"  
He didn't get the chance to even finish as it echoed again. Louder this time, almost as if someone were screaming directly in his ear with a motherfucker megaphone.

 _It will never be gone_

No matter how much he tries to help, the stain of his mistakes is noticeable and it will never be gone; still enduring the excruciating pain that dared to tear his head apart, he could see the scar in Butters' eye. With the blinding pain, that's the only thing he could clearly make out.

"Ughh...! Shut up...!"  
The immortal tried his best to kept it down, to force the pain away, but it eventually had him gripping his hair and standing from the bed so quickly that the spaghetti bowl spilled all over the floor and Butters gasped, startled but more worried than anything.  
"Ken-"

"I- I must go"  
He finally managed out, practically running out of the room; for some reason feeling the necessity to go away, to back up, to move, to do anything else but standing there enduring that terrible headache. It was blinding, he's sure Butters shouted his name several times but he just couldn't stop until he made his way out of the house, slamming the door shut almost in his friend's face as the boy followed him all the way, but ultimately couldn't do anything to make him stop or feel better. Just watch and call out helplessly, hoping for Kenny to acknowledge him or at least tell him what's wrong. For Butters, anything would have been better than just silence.

Just silence, as he continued to stare at the door with furrowed brows and wonder what just happened, wonder if he did something wrong or there was something wrong with Kenny; he would have tailed behind hadn't he been grounded, he would have followed Kenny wherever he went just to know what's bothering him, Butters knows his parka wearing friend would do the same for him, wouldn't he?

Or that's what he kept telling himself. That's what he wanted to believe so badly, even when right now it was kind of apparent that the taller blond didn't want to be with him or discuss what troubled him. Everyone needs their own time, Butters repeated over and over again while staring at the door with concerned eyes and dropped brows. Then, a voice broke in.

"So, Butters"  
He snapped his head quickly, turning it to look over the couch in the living room where Firkle laid; legs crossed in a comfortable position as he lazily read a thick, dark book with a creepy cover. How or when did he get there, Butters had no idea.  
"Tell me, was it curiosity? Or pity?"  
He asked with a side, sly smile. The sunny blond boy couldn't bring himself to do or say a single thing. He just stayed silent.

* * *

Kenny wasn't really sure if it's been hours or seconds since he left Butters' house, he just tried to get away as much as he could and hope for the damn headache to end. After walking practically blinded by the pain and deafed by the stupid voice of his doppelganger, bumping with every person in the sidewalk he reached Stark's pond and slumped in a bench, breathing unevenly and sprawling his arm over his eyes to shield himself from the fading sunset. The pain seemed to be going away as he remained in that position for who knows how long, until he finally chose to let his arm fall to his side just to meet that annoying, big eyed stare his small doppelganger always greeted him with.

"Seems like you're starting to understand"  
He said more to himself with that muffled voice, watching the real McCormick directly in the eye.

"Shut the fuck up"  
Hissed the older in return, not caring that there were people around who could see him spitting venom to no one in particular, he wanted to shut the boy up and never heard his faint, muffled voice ever again if that's possible.  
"Jerk" muttered in retort the kid, rolling his eyes as Kenny rubbed his still aching temples.

"You just want to torture me, don't you? Why the hell can't you go away?!"  
He barked out, but his outburst didn't seem to take back the doppelganger who didn't even flinch and stood in front of him like always, hands in the pockets of his parka.

"I'm not torturing you, you're the only one that's torturing himself with all that guilt"  
He said with a shrug, and like hell Kenny wanted to punch him so badly even when he's supposed to be in his head. Hadn't he had that stupid headache, he would have tried.  
"And I can't go away, at least until you finally open your eyes and wake up"

Kenny couldn't quite understand anymore, he's going insane over here and the kid still says his eyes aren't open and all that cryptic shit. What is it that he wants, then?! Make him suffer even more using all the painful memories? Does the boy want to make him crack until his sanity slips? He growled in frustration, not getting any of this shit as he looked at his kid self's calm figure with his own hateful eyes.

"Who the hell are you?"  
He asked through gritted teeth, making the boy shrug his shoulders.  
"I'm one of your personal demons"  
He answered in an obvious mocking tone, Kenny rolling his eyes and growling, frustrated over the boy's lack of seriousness. For all he knows, personal demons are supposed to be like; small voices nagging in the back of your head, and even when that's something the doppelganger did at first he already is an actual demon that literally spits everything straight to his face. To be honest, he always though a personal demon would look more like Kyle rather than a small version of himself; it would make more sense that his smart-ass friend would annoy him with his logic shit and rational thinking. Kyle could be annoying but that sounded far better than this smug-ass kid.

"Like hell you are"  
He replied with a scoff, continuing to rub his temples as the doppelganger let out a sound akin to a sigh.

"Aw, Kenny..." he shook his head, closing his eyes. "You could even know the secret of the universe for all I care, but it's useless if you're not willing to acknowledge it, isn't it?" he leaned forward, his parka hooded face inches away from Kenny's.  
"You know who I am"

He said, it wasn't a question but a fact that annoyed the immortal to no end. Was he supposed to know who he is and why his mind made him up to mess with his sanity?

"Let me give you some clues, you may hate me now, but being true and honest with yourself there are moments in which you're grateful that I exist. I'm a curse but also a gift you don't want, I make you stumble and feel like you don't give a shit anymore, but I also make you rise every morning"

He said calmly, counting every fact with his fingers and pacing in front of the real blond as he did so, this only seemed to confuse Kenny even more.

"Who I am?"

This was useless. The boy is never going to speak straight to him, so the real McCormick could only sigh; the headache seemed to be fading slowly but it was better than how it almost made him want to bash his head against the wall at Butters' house.  
"You sound like my wife"  
His snarky comment earned a groan from the doppelganger, rolling his big eyes with exasperation.

"My name, Kenny"  
He said, voice echoing inside Kenny's head again but not hurting him anymore.  
"Think about my name"  
As soon as he said that, the pain seemed to completely go away like it wasn't there in the first place; when the blond finally stopped rubbing his temples and lifted his gaze, the boy was no more. He was just sitting on a bench, people walking around the pond like usual and the sun daring to dissappear in the horizon; pink and orange hues painting the sky. He couldn't help but let out a relieved sigh; at least, his demon is gone for now.

"Rumpelstilskin"

He muttered, not really feeling like laughing at his own joke.

* * *

After the stupid speech from his "personal demon" or whatever, the last thing Kenny wanted was to go home and sleep despite how tired he actually felt; the stupid kid could chase after him and haunt his dreams again, fuck knows what else he has in store to annoy the shit out of him. Instead, he preferred to wander absent-mindedly across the pond, and then across the streets in order to eventually get home, hopefully when the Moon is already out. He contemplated the idea of going back to Butters' place and explain him everything, to reassure his buddy he's okay and none of what happened was his fault, but his strict parents surely arrived by now. They must be pissed after Kenny spilled the spaghetti all over their carpet; another stain that will never be gone. Great, he's still talking like his motherfucker kid doppelganger; why can't he stop? Oh right, because that stupid voice is still echoing in his head.

He could always climb by Butters' window, but Mr. Stotch can smell his parka from miles away; he'll lose his shit and that will only get Leo in even more troubles. So, he just chose to leave him a voice mail later on and explain everything at school tomorrow morning. Right now he just wanted to walk away and let his troubled thoughs wander away, until he passed by a very familiar house he hadn't noticed until a voice caught his attention.

"Kick the baby!"

Almost immediately something shot from the house's open windows like cannonball, Ken just watched from the sidewalk; hood pulled over his face for the cold as the projectile landed face first in the snow with a grunt. Instinctively, the immortal got closer to see if the small, Canadian boy was okay; body limp and short limbs sprawled over the snow.  
"Are you okay?"  
He asked, and after a few minutes Ike let out a groan. He'll take that as a yes.  
"I'm okay..." the raven boy said almost incoherently as his face was still buried in the snow, not bothering himself to even lift his head. "I'm just too old to be playing kick the baby!" he whined, louder this time and flailing his limbs as he threw a tantrum. It looked funny, almost as if he was making an angel in the snow.

"Weren't you going to retrieve the book from Tricia?!"  
Kyle shouted from the doorstep of the house, brows furrowed and arms crossed over his chest, his tangled curls of deep red hair were also free from his ushanka.  
"Or you'd rather want me to kick the baby again?" At this, Ike instantly got up at an almost inhuman speed; running away in the sidewalk as fast his legs could carry him; like the devil itself chased after him. He actually had a redheaded devil as his brother.

"No! Don't kick the goddamn baby!"

He shouted from the distance, the redhead just sighing and leaning in the doorway as Kenny stepped closer to the house.

"Stan is right, this is cruel"  
But very funny, he restrained himself from adding. The Jewish boy huffed and rolled his eyes, turning back to enter the house once again, the blond tailing behind and practically inviting himself into his friend's household. It was pretty common for all of them to just enter each other's homes without even asking, that's why he had no qualms in climbing from Butters' window.

"You don't know him, he can be a real pain in the ass when he wants to"  
Kyle said, walking over the kitchen and starting to gather the pencils and open notebooks that laid in the table after his tutoring session with his Canadian brother. Ever since the morning the redhead has been in kind of a sour mood, he probably even tried to stuff a dictionary in Ike's head.

"By the way, what are your doing out at this hour? Are you going on patrol tonight?"

Kyle Mother Broflovski, always sounding like a strict mom no matter the situation. However, he hadn't actually though about patrolling tonight; too bottled up in what happened with Butters and the doppelganger. Humming for a moment, he decided it wasn't really a good idea. After all, if another headache comes up he can end screwing things badly and getting someone killed. Probably himself.

"Nah, I'm tired. I was just passing by"  
He commented, taking a seat and letting his body sink in the plush couch as his Jewish friend blinked. Pretty odd, Kenny never admitted being tired for going on patrol, and the thing about just 'passing by' wouldn't even fool a toddler, Kyle heard him saying that several times before... The most relevant one being when he got severely injured during patrol and literally broke into the redhead's room, tearing his mask away to reveal he's been Mysterion all along. When Kyle asked the dozen of questions he had in mind, the vigilante just chuckled and said he was passing by, even while enduring a whole lot of pain.

"Really?" Kyle finally asked with obvious disbelief, taking a seat at the kitchen's table and leaning his cheek against his palm; as if waiting for Kenny to spit out already whatever it is he wants to say.  
"Yeah, I got a headache a while ago so I though about resting for the night... Maybe spend some quality time with my favorite redhead..."  
He said in a teasing tone as he blinked several times, batting his eyelashes at Kyle who just rolled his tired eyes.

"I though your mother was your favorite redhead"  
The Jewish boy said flatly, getting up and starting to fiddle through the drawers of the kitchen.

"You're like a mom"  
He answered with a shrug, and grinned when Kyle flipped him off from his spot. One of these days he had to admit it, now even more as the redhead approached him, holding a glass of water and a small pill. Kenny eyed it curiously before shifting his gaze to his friend.

"For your headache"  
He explained, and the immortal didn't hesitate in taking it. The headache was no more, but maybe that could help him sleep tonight. After dealing with Kenny's whines about bruises and broken bones, Kyle managed some kind of expertise about which medicine would make him feel better, which dosage, and which ones he's allergic to. He trusts his life to the emerald eyed boy in this area, so he downed the pill without a second glance.

"Can you give me another to have sweet dreams with princesses and unicorns?"  
He asked happily, stretching out his palm and bouncing slightly in his seat. By sweet dreams with unicorns and that stuff he means that kind of dirty and pleasurable dreams he always gets after getting high on medicine. It's like being high, but it was completely justified when the pain menaced to tear him from inside out.

"Don't tempt your luck, these things are actually pretty hardcore. A high dosage can kill you in less than a minute"  
Replied Kyle bluntly, taking away the glass and storing it in the shelf as Kenny let out a disappointed noise the redhead chose to ignore.

"How was Butters today?"  
He asked, closing the shelf. Kenny was expecting him to ask that. While Kyle could be such a mom to him, he's more like a big brother of sorts for the small blond boy.

"He was pretty okay, we tried to cheer Heidi up a bit during art class"  
At the mention of the girl, the Jewish boy narrowed his brows; probably remembering what happened in the morning and how neither him or Stan couldn't offer her comfort of some sort.

"She's still sulking over Cartman? I know there has to be something wrong with her"  
He spat out, rolling his eyes as the Brunet's name came out in a hiss. He must still be mad at the fatass for being a complete jerk before, and even when Kenny wanted to comment everything Heidi said before, he still had a promise to keep. Seriously, if Heidi or Butters ever find out he spilled the whole thing they'll surely attack him with their big, puppy eyes.

"Maybe, but Butters insisted in helping her. I think he might have a crush in her"  
He said off handedly, not really sure himself. After all, Butters worries over everyone equally, with Kenny being the only one capable of igniting several reactions from him as they were more intimate. Nothing weird at all, Stan and Kyle have the same knack. To his surprise, Kyle let out a loud "Pffff" sound.

"Yeah, sure" he said with an eye roll, and from his spot in the couch Kenny could see his smug, side grin. "I doubt Butters would do that to you, Kenny"  
His tone was snarky, making the immortal quirk one of his brows.

The orange clad hummed in slight confusion, eyes trailing Kyle as he stood from his chair to open the fridge and pour himself a glass of what looked like lemonade, smug grin never leaving his face.  
"I mean, he's too attached to you to even think about someone else"  
He explained, leaning in the fridge. This was Kenny's time to roll his eyes, already exasperated of this; Kyle's been saying stuff like that ever since forever. Just because the orange clad blond has always been Butters' shoulder to lean on; being tender and caring of the boy when no one else was. It's only natural for Leo to adore him. It feels good to adored, actually, especially from someone so tender as Butters; but Stan, Kyle, and even Cartman always insinuated weird stuff that made everyone else in the classroom spread some rumors about the things they do when it's just the two of them in the hospital, in that large and lonely room... Kenny actually doesn't give a shit as long as his Buttercup is alright, but at some point all the murmuring behind his back became annoying.

"Whatever you say, Kyle"  
He muttered, not really wanting to delve in the matter anymore as Kyle chuckled and walked over him in the couch, just to give a light pat over his still parka hooded head.

"Be true and honest to yourself, Ken. You know the two of you are glued by the hip"

 _Be true and honest with yourself, Kenny. You know that everything I said is true, you may forget about all your guilt and negative feelings but they'll always be there_

Damn that voice again, it seemed to sting in his head the moment Kyle said that; he winced but it just lasted for a second. He finally reached out to let his hood fall from his head and let out a loud yawn while stretching his arms.

"Not like you and Stan, though. You two are practically the same person at this point"

He said jokingly; it was actually kind of the opposite. When the super best friends were small as toddlers, their personalities seemed pretty much the same thing. You could always talk with Stan and you'll receive the same answers you'd get from Kyle and viceversa, as the years went by that eventually changed. Kyle's temperament became apparent the more Cartman picked on him, while Stan is kind of a softie jock that always remained sensitive as well as awkward at times, but despite their differences they'll always be side by side. That's enough proof of their long life friendship.

"Hey, we're talking about you right now"  
Retorted the redhead quickly, taking a seat beside the blond and crossing his arms over his chest.

"And seriously, we all know how much Butters really adores you, and you care a lot about him as well. You two should just..."  
He paused, closing his eyes like trying to find the right words but without making this awkward.  
"...Say something already"  
He finished saying, setting his glass of lemonade in the small table beside the couch. Kenny scoffed.  
"Say something like what?"  
Here he goes. Sooner or later, either Stan or Kyle would give him this chat; the blond has tried to avoid it as much as he could, right now he still tried to not acknowledge it even when the redhead is being so straightforward, but it's seemingly inevitable.

Kyle let out a groan. "You know what I'm talking about" he said, throwing his head back and making the red curls bounce every time he moved.

 _You know who I am_

There it is again. Nagging and nagging and nagging to the point he couldn't even focus in what Kyle was saying anymore. He just stared down as the sting sensation jabbed his head and the voice echoed; his friend's voice seemed like background noise.

"When was the last time Butters got grounded and you didn't climb from the window just to comfort him? When he got sick, you also worried like hell. Remember when we visited him at the hospital? The nurses almost called the police when you kicked the Doctor in the balls, just to know in which room they kept Butters in"  
Kyle recounted, eyes on Kenny while the blond seemed unfocused.  
"We all have noticed, and this is honestly getting a bit awkward. If you have feelings for him or something, just spit it out already! Don't keep it bottled like you always do"  
He finished, raising his voice a bit, but the blond didn't respond. After a few minutes, the redhead watched how he lifted his gaze to look at him with a somewhat dark expression.

"Yeah, sure, you're one to talk"

His words came out way more harsh than he intended them to be, but he was already tired. Tired of the nagging voice in his head, tired of both Kyle and his doppelganger annoying the shit out of him with things he already knows; what if his relationship with Butters is complicated? What if he's an idiot that beats himself up with guilt because his life is a complete and utter shit? If he doesn't want to sort things out and come in terms with what he feels, that's just his damn problem. That's why he wore that stupid parka over his face for so many years, because he wanted to keep everything to himself and not bother or be bothered by anyone!

Kyle seemed to be slightly surprised by his suddenly rude words, as he raised a brow.

"What?"

"You're pulling all that shit on me when you're the one that's been bottling up your feels for Stan during like, your whole damn life"  
He finally said it, and folded his arms over his chest while watching how the redhead frowned at him.  
"What the fuck Kenny?"  
The Jewish boy said in a low voice, like daring Kenny to continue and meet his growing wrath, but the orange clad wasn't planning to stop. No when he already started.

"Let's be true and honest with ourselves, Kyle" he repeated his friend's words. "How many times has Stan come to cry on your shoulder after a break up with Wendy? How many times have you wished to kiss him, and felt like you're the only one that deserves him? Heck, I bet you have had wet dreams in which he fucks you instead of Wendy"

Ken finished, scoffing a looking away as he knew Kyle's blood was surely boiling by now, practically feeling the intense emerald gaze piercing trough his skull.

"What's your fucking problem Kenny?!"  
He finally snapped, anger dripping from every word as he stood, body shaking with anger as he tried not to punch the blond just now.  
"I was just trying to help you so you could stop being an stupid, screwed, bottled up moron!"

He balled his hands into fists, even more anger rushing in as Kenny still looked away and completely ignored him.

"Even when I knew it wouldn't work, how would it? You've always been hiding all your shit under your parka, never saying a damn word besides a fucking muffle no one ever really understood! You always kept everything bottled up, and didn't say a damn thing about what you were really thinking because you though no one cared!"

Kyle let out a growl, still releasing his anger; to be honest Kenny knew they both had their own motives to be mad for, and this wasn't the best way to let it all out, but he himself couldn't restrain anymore what he said, neither his friend is stopping at this point.

"Hell, you still think no one really cares or notices when you're troubled! Guess what? Stan cares, Butters cares more than anyone and I care as well, even when you're being a complete dickhead right now!"

"I never asked you to care about me!" Ken stood as well, he was taller than the redhead but he was surely more intimidating with his green, piercing glare that seemed to be killing him over and over again.  
"You just care because I'm poor, don't you? You think I'm just a poor little puppy you have to take care so you can feel good with your smart ass! Dammit, you're no better than Cartman!"

This made Kyle's eyes go wide but he didn't say a thing, his face wrinkling once again in anger, but at the same time looking hurt. Shit, he hit a nerve.

"I may be a bottled up moron like you say, but you're one as well. All of you, actually. You can't get your rational shit together to come into terms with your feelings for Stan, and that idiot can't even realize why things never worked out with Wendy; even Cartman is so stupid and bottled up that he hasn't even noticed his feelings for you"

His voice was firm, but not as raised anymore as he was finally saying what he meant to say for so long. He didn't give a shit anymore about keeping Cartman's shit as a secret; Kyle had to hear this. It surely disturbed him, the scowl deepening even more as he opened his mouth to say something, to retort and deny everything, but the moment he opened his mouth, he was at lost of words. They just didn't came out, no matter how much he tried to force them out his throat. Both the redhead and the blond stood like that for a few seconds, until a sudden click drew their gazes towards the front door.

"I brought the book, just don't kick me anymore!"  
Squealed Ike as he entered, holding said book to his chest. He immediately stopped on his tracks, upon seeing his big brother and Kenny just standing there with scowls plastered in their faces; almost looking like they were about to fight.  
"Mmmh... am I... Interrupting something?"  
He asked worriedly, fidgeting a bit with his small hands as his eyes darted from the redhead to the blond. This seemed to snap Kyle out of whatever trance he got, as he made his way to stand beside Ike and put his hands over his little brother's small shoulders.

"No, actually, Kenny was just about to leave"  
The redhead said coldly, emerald green eyes turning from angered to icy like cold daggers, stabbing Kenny as he only stared at his friend and the Canadian boy that seemed so concerned over him and his big brother. The blond swallowed up whichever words got stuck in his throat, before pulling over his head the hood of his parka and tucking both hands in the pockets.

"...Yeah, sorry"  
He muttered lowly, walking past the brothers and through the doorstep into the pure white sidewalk; snow starting to fall even harder with each minute.  
"Good night, Ike"  
That's the last thing the orange clad said before leaving, the Broflovski's eyes still following him; Kyle's chilly bitter stare could be felt as it was colder than the frozen streets of South Park, and Ike innocently concerned eyes shifting from him to Kyle several times. Now he felt kind of bad for startling the boy like that and releasing the devil inside his big brother.

Kenny had no idea to where he was going, he just continued to head forward and pass by his friends' houses, streets growing colder and darker as the almost completely lit moon rose in the sky, he eventually had to return home and kiss Karen good night, yet he couldn't bring himself to lay down and sleep even when his tired body screamed him to. Every swirling though taking it's toll on him, now he felt like a jerkish piece of shit after being a total dickhead with Kyle. The redhead helped him so much before, and even when he could be annoying and too smart-ass sometimes, they both went too far.

With all the nightmares he's been having, sleeping will only remind him the cold and heavy silence that awaited him after igniting Kyle's wrath. He tried to push the thoughts away, to put everything aside and focus in something else, like the voice mail he has to leave Butters so he wouldn't have to worry until tomorrow morning when they get the chance to talk face to face.

Trying to not get restless inside his small room, the blond instead chose to sit in the rooftop of his house; carpet of bright stars above his head, but he wasn't focusing in them at all. He was focused in Butters' contact information displayed in the screen of his phone, his thumb hovering over the number but not daring to touch it and start the call. After all, what's he supposed to say? For all he knew, he could even snap and lose control over himself, just like he snapped on Kyle. Not being able to collect his thoughts, Kenny sighed and pocketed his phone again; the effect of the pill finally having it's toll on him. He just wished he could sleep every problem away...

* * *

Kyle groaned, scooping in his arms the sleeping form of his little brother, as he snored loudly after their studying session finally ended. Actually, it didn't really end; he just fell asleep in the middle of an equation and the redhead didn't notice until he finished explaining the whole thing to no avail. Finally reaching his room, he let the small Canadian fall flat in the bed; limbs sprawled not gracefully at all as his chest slowly rose and fell with his breath. That kid may look like angel right now, but he's heavier than a bag of rocks. Where did he keep that extra weight, the redhead will never find out. He guessed it was a Canadian thing.

Pulling a blanket over his bother, Kyle closed the door behind him and returned to his own room, not really feeling sleepy. Heck, he actually wished he could keep tutoring Ike in order to avoid going to sleep because he wouldn't be able to. Not after everything Kenny said, not after he had that much shit to ponder about. Dammit, he just couldn't ignore it; Kenny was an asshole but he said a lot of things that made sense. He really didn't want to think about that; he wanted to focus on something else, anything would be better than that.

Taking a seat on his bed and pulling his legs to hug them against his chest, the redhead grabbed his phone and tapped the first contact in his quick deal. It rung a few times before Stan's sleepy voice answered from the other side of the line.  
 _"...Hey Ky, are you still kicking the baby?"_  
He asked jokingly before yawning loudly. Kyle furrowed his brows and closed his eyes.

"No, it's just-"  
He didn't get to finish as he stopped to sigh softly, pinching the bridge of his nose. His voice came out way more upset than he intended it to; his raven bestie surely noticed it.

 _"What's wrong?"_  
He sounded concerned, trying to shake his drowsiness away to focus on his friend. After all, no matter the day or the hour, they'll always be there for each other when needed.  
"Nothing, it's just..." the redhead tried to manage out again, his own hand tangling itself in the mess of dark red locks.

"...My brain is decaying after listening to Ike's stupid questions. I'm becoming dumber with each passing second, so I thought talking for a while would help. Do you have the time?"

He finished saying, not bringing himself to tell the whole story about his argument with Kenny without bringing up some awkward matters. And Stan, being the sensitive one he always is couldn't say no.

 _"Of course, what do you want to talk about?"_

It was pretty late, he could wake up his parents and is already keeping Stan up; even when he's surely tired after the team training today, but right now he needs this. He needed Stan, he needed the person that cared so much about him and just asked their friendship in return.

"Well..." Kyle began again, looking down slightly. "It's about Kenny"

Stan hummed in the phone, somehow not feeling surprised at all.


End file.
